


Chitose no Kamikakushi

by Garnet_Sekai



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Exploration, Gen, Original Character(s), POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-09
Packaged: 2018-05-04 23:31:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 71,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5352476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Garnet_Sekai/pseuds/Garnet_Sekai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In modern Japan, a young college student with a passion for both shrines and engineering has discovered the shell of an abandoned shrine. After much hard work, the Osaka girl's passion has caught the attention of a certain perpetually bored youkai. For Chitose Izumo, both life and the world itself are about to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Day ~ A Heartfelt Prayer

**Author's Note:**

> _You know, I’ve always been confused by those who say the gods don’t exist solely on the basis that their prayers never seem to get answered. After all, the gods have no power without faith, and if we only pray to them when -we- need them to have power, they won’t have enough to do anything but watch sadly. It’s why I visit that old shrine every year… even if one person comes but once a year to give that god, whoever they are, their faith, then maybe after long enough, they can pull off a real miracle…_

As I drove along the barely-visible path, I thought once again about those words. One of my friends had caught me as I was about to leave, and asked me why I always come up here each year. And, well, that really is the reason why. It’s just to pray… and to give the god of the shrine just a tiny bit of faith to survive on. The average Westerner would scoff at the idea of me somehow giving a god power, but they only have one god to give faith to. Of course he would have incredible power. But for us, there’s a reason we talk about the eight million  _kami_ .

As I stepped out of my car, I checked my hair in the mirror, and smiled a bit at the face reflected back at me. I had, as always, cut my black hair short in preparation for the day's work, curling just above my chin and tucked behind my ears. Somewhere in my ancestry, a foreigner or two had been twined into my family tree, but my slim, tapered eyes were the only sign of this, a clear light blue shining back at me in the mirror. With a smile, I tied a kerchief over my head and set to work.

I sighed a bit as I started up the grassy, overgrown path to the old shrine. From drawings I’d managed to dig up, the building must have looked wonderful back in the old days. But, sometime near the end of the 1800’s, it had been abandoned, and now it was barely holding itself together. When I first had found it, there were weeds freely growing in the interior, and the path was more like a thicket of plants. It had taken me a long while to clear out the weeds, but I never seemed to get tired… at times, I liked to think the god of the shrine was loaning me just a little power in thanks for my faith and care. Nowadays, thanks to my annual visits the shrine was looking far better than it had. Today I’d brought a load of boards to try and replace some of the rotted and broken ones in the shrine’s floor. First, though, as always I moved towards the altar in the very back of the shrine to pray.

As I moved up the path, bearing the first load of boards, I felt something strike against my foot. Sifting through the grass, I eventually came up with a small coin, its face totally obscured by moss and a speckling of tiny mushrooms. Cupping it lightly in my hand, I moved to the shrine and set down the boards… pausing at the door and glancing back. Warped and worm-eaten as it had become, there _was_ a donation box in the front of the shrine. Finding the idea actually a little quaint, I gently wormed the old coin through the slot and listened to it settle into the bottom with an audible clunk.

I took a moment as I stood there to look out at the land around the shrine, and I sighed. The flowers and trees around the old shrine looked sick, withered and drooping lightly. I still had no idea what was wrong with them; my only friend with any interest in botany had looked at them and concluded merely that they were blighted somehow. Another student suggested that it might have something to do with the reason the shrine was abandoned, but neither of them had been able to give a conclusive answer as to just what was wrong with the land, or what I could do to help reverse it. It almost looked at times as if the energy of the land was somehow being drained away.

To be honest, those trees were part of the reason that I came and prayed every year on the first day of spring. Faith is faith, and I believed that if I spent enough time and care, the shrine’s god could perhaps gain enough strength to reverse whatever had withered its home. I wanted to restore the shrine and to help its god to regain power and to be worshipped again, by more than just a single college student, but I also longed each year to drive up to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom.

After making my usual devotions, I returned to the car and carefully lugged the wood up to the shrine, piece by piece. The morning wore on, but by the time I broke for lunch, the worst parts of the shrine’s floor had been restored, leaving only the firmer parts to be replaced. I sat outside in the sun to eat my meal, bowing lightly towards the shrine’s interior and murmuring, “ _Ittadakimasu,_ ” as I did. The god hadn’t provided it for me, but I was still eating lunch in what was effectively its home… my friends thought me silly for it, but I always regarded it as important to show respect for it. The grass, at least, was soft and rich, and I laid in it to relax in the sun when I had finished, closing my eyes and letting myself commune with the shrine and land around me.

As I laid there, I smiled, my thoughts turning to the god and letting my faith flow to it once more. _Maybe, after a few more years of this, the Hakurei Shrine can really be restored,_ I thought.

A few minutes later, as I lay there still, a burst of color seemed to explode from nowhere behind my closed eyelids, and I suddenly had the sensation of a brief gust of wind rushing over me. When the color and wind stopped, I had the odd sensation that something was different about my surroundings now… the scent, perhaps. As I opened my eyes, the image of cherry blossoms falling through the air jolted me. I quickly sat up, looking around at the suddenly blooming trees all around me… had the shrine’s god finally answered my prayer? But something seemed wrong, and as my eyes fell on the path I realized what it was. The weedy, almost invisible path I had come up by was now well-kept, and the stairs beneath it were actually intact, a beautifully-carved Shinto gate standing proudly above the peak. I sat there pondering. Had the god actually pulled off a bigger miracle than I had expected? Or, perhaps, was this a vision it was granting me of the shrine’s past… or of its restored future form?

Of course, the truth was to prove far stranger than a simple divine action. As I sat there trying to make sense out of everything, a girl appeared at the top of the steps, carrying a pair of bottles in a sling over one shoulder, a small gourd clutched in her free hand almost possessively. She cocked her head as she saw me, and came closer. She glanced towards the shrine as she reached me and called, “Oi! Reimu! Another visitor… oh, and I’m back with the sake…”

I couldn’t help but stare, really. As she came closer, what I had thought to be an extremely outlandish hair style proved in fact to be a pair of steer-like horns emerging from her long red hair. A broken chain dangled from one wrist, and as she watched me, she lifted the gourd to her lips and took such a long sip from it that it seemed impossible that the small gourd had held that much even when full. She grinned at me as she finished, a light blush curving under her eyes. “What? Ain’tcha ever seen an oni before?” she asked.

The question left me stumbling. “W-well, no,” I managed to stammer out. “I didn’t… think they existed…”

The girl shrugged. “Eh, commonplace enough answer… most of ‘em live underground with Yuugi, so it’s not like there are tons running about up here.” She tilted her head. “Hang on a sec… you said ‘existed’, not ‘any left’…” she murmured. “Where do you come from, anyway? Human village?”

I blinked, slowly standing. As I did, I took a better look at the girl. Those mischievous eyes sparkled at me, a warm brown, and she was dressed in rather odd attire… a buttoned top with no sleeves, though the tatters around the shoulder area suggested that they had been torn off rather than the garment being made that way. She also wore a long purple skirt with white patterns around the hem, and was very clearly barefoot. “Well…” I finally answered. “I’m from Osaka…”

The girl grinned, holding out a hand. “Knew it! You’re from Outside, aren’t ya?”

I blinked, taking the hand carefully. “Outside…? Outside of what?” I paused. “Not… that I really know where I am at the moment…” I confessed.

The girl nodded, shaking my hand eagerly. “Common enough reaction… well, outside of Gensokyo, I mean. People stumble through the barrier sometimes…” she said, as if that was enough explanation… to her, it probably was, but I was still left confused. “Anyway, the name’s Suika. Suika Ibuki.”

I blinked, shaking her hand cautiously. “Chitose Izumo… so… um, I still don’t get where I am…”

Suika shrugged. “The Hakurei Shrine, of course,” she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world… again, maybe it _was_ to her. She turned and frowned at the shrine. “Where’s that lazy… OI, REIMU!” she shouted again. “C’mere!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming, knock it off, flat-chest,” came a groan from inside. “I do enough work preparing for this thing every year, would it kill ya to let me snag a nap while you’re out shopping?”

Suika pouted, one arm covering her noticeably small chest. “Just get out here, Reimu…” She shook her head.

I frowned, scratching my head. “… I just came from the Hakurei Shrine… I was restoring it, then I laid down, and suddenly I was here…”

Another long sigh came from inside. “Oh, great…” A black-haired girl, hair bound up in a red bow, poked her head out of the door. “Suik, she’s from Outside?”

Suika nodded. “Yeah, near as I can figure,” she said back, looking at me. “She said she’s from Osaka, and that’s definitely a city, right?”

The girl, Reimu, I assumed, sighed, emerging from the shrine now and leaning on the door. Her outfit marked her as clearly being the shrine maiden, although it was very obviously altered from the normal miko uniform, replacing the white-and-red kimono and hakama with a long red dress with a yellow neckerchief. The sleeves were long, pure white with red ribbon, and to my surprise I saw they were detached, held on to her arms in such a way that her shoulders were left totally bare.

“Great,” the miko muttered, raising her finger in the air. “All together now… damnit, Yukari!”

Her last words were joined in by two other voices… one, energetic and on the verge of giggles, coming from Suika, and the other belonging to a blonde-haired girl who was now poking her head up over the edge of the shrine’s roof and giving Reimu a manic grin.

Reimu blinked. “Marisa, what’re you doing up there… and how long have you been up there?” she called up, tilting her head.

Marisa grinned, adjusting her black witch’s hat. “Takin’ a catnap, and waiting for you to wake up, ze,” she said in a singsong voice. The "ze" took me off guard; at least in my culture, that particle was effectively male-only. She blinked as something small and winged flitted up in front of her face. “Eh…?” She took something from the small thing’s hands, giggling lightly as it settled almost affectionately onto her shoulder. As she read the note, she frowned softly. “Reimu, gotta go… Alice wants me for something. Guess I’ll come help set up later, ze…” She smiled, and then stood, straddling a broomstick as she suddenly flew off in a blur of black and white.

Reimu rolled her eyes. “Great…” She shook her head. “Look, I’m not dealing with whatever that gap-brain’s latest shenanigans are, I’ve got too much on my plate already…” She ducked back inside the shrine. “Sheesh…”

I couldn’t help but stare after the black-white girl’s path. “She… flies?”

Suika giggled. “Well, duh,” she said, walking past me. “Pretty much everyone can here…” She walked up and into the shrine as well. “I’d better start helping out before Reimu starts pitchin’ a fit though…”

“Helping out?” a voice called from behind us. “What, did Reimu threaten not to let you come if you didn’t help prepare?” The voice paused as I turned. “Oh, who’s this…? I don’t recall seeing you around the village before…”

The man standing before me was a fairly normal sight after the sudden craziness of the three girls, only his golden eyes belying anything even remotely odd about him. His short hair was a soft silver that caught the light nicely, and he wore an odd kimono in black and blue along with a fairly large belt-pouch in the front. He didn’t extend his hand, as both were occupied in lifting a fairly large box. “Afternoon…” he said quietly.

Suika giggled and waved. “Heya, Kourin~” she called in a singsong voice before running up to take the box from him, then zipping back inside. “Kourin” sighed with relief and sat in the grass when the box had been removed. “Well… that was rather heavy…” he murmured.

I sat near him. Extending my hand, I quickly introduced myself, “I’m Chitose Izumo. And Suika said your name was… Kourin?”

The man shook his head. “Rinnosuke Morichika,” he said. “Kourin is just a nickname Marisa gave me, since I’m Kourindou’s proprietor.” He smiled at my confused look. “You’re not from around here then… Kourindou is a shop specializing in curiosities, many of them from Outside. It’s on the outskirts of the Forest of Magic.”

I shook my head. “That’s the third time someone’s mentioned ’outside’ like that… but outside of what? Just where am I? I was lying down at the old Hakurei Shrine, and then suddenly…”

Rinnosuke sat up a bit. “You’re from Outside, then…?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I guess…” I murmured. “Whatever that means.”

Rinnosuke smiled lightly. “Nobody from Gensokyo would talk about the ‘old’ Hakurei Shrine,” he said. “Let me guess, it’s deserted where you came from?” He returned my nod and immediately continued. “This place - Gensokyo - is sequestered from the rest of the world by a powerful barrier. Anything outside of this ‘Hakurei Border’ is traditionally referred to us as ‘Outside’.”

I blinked. “Hakurei Border…?”

Rinnosuke nodded again, seeming to get into full swing. “If you want more information, it’d be better to ask either Akyu or Keine, but in essence, that’s the purpose of the Hakurei Shrine, to maintain and empower the Border that keeps us all safe.”

He paused, seeing my eyes practically whirling as I tried to keep up. “Ah… well… Think of Gensokyo as a separate world. And the Hakurei Border is what separates Gensokyo from Outside.”

I shook my head. “But that doesn’t make sense… If I’m from Outside, as you call it, then what am I suddenly doing on the Gensokyo side of this Border? Especially if it’s so strong…”

Rinnosuke chuckled. “There are weak points in the barrier. Sometimes the right event, at the right time, will cause something or someone to slip through by accident. A lot of things in my store were gotten that way.” He shook his head. “And since you were at the Hakurei Shrine of Outside, it wasn’t so difficult for you to come through. So… since I imagine Reimu was a little too frazzled to say it herself, welcome to Gensokyo, Chitose.”

I took his hand as he extended it again and shook it. “Er, thanks… I guess… but, then… how can I get back?”

Rinnosuke stood slowly, shaking his head. “For that, you’d have to talk with Akyu or Keine,” he explained. “They’re the most knowledgeable about history here, so they’d be the most likely to know about previous visitors from Outside that were able to return.” He paused. “I need to head back to bring another load of goods anyway, so shall I guide you to the village? You’d probably be able to find both of them there, and the forest is a bit tricky for a newcomer to navigate, especially if the fairies are about.”

I frowned softly, rising to my feet. “That sounds like a good idea, really… I should find somewhere to sleep tonight,” I pointed out. “Is there somewhere I can lodge there as well?”

Rinnosuke nodded. “Oh, sure, there’s plenty of room.” He paused, and then added, “Besides, you don’t really want to be sleeping out around here at night. Not all the youkai around here are as friendly as, say, Aya.”

I blanched. “There are more youkai around here besides Suika, then?” I asked.

Rinnosuke blinked, and chuckled a little. “Oh, lots,” he said. “It’s just most of them don’t seriously seek to harm humans, especially these days. Heck, I’m half-youkai myself. But seriously, the old human-youkai battles have turned into something a lot more like a game these days, especially now that Reimu came up with that Spell Card system of hers…”

As I went to question further, he held up a hand. “We should get going,” he said. “I honestly don’t have the time to stand here and explain every nuance of Gensokyo to you, especially today with all the preparations that still need to be made.”

I nodded, following him as he headed down the shrine stairs and into the bright forest surrounding it. “Preparations for what?” I asked.

Rinnosuke chuckled, maneuvering carefully around the trees. “The Hakurei Shrine is holding one of its annual festivals tomorrow,” he explained. “Considering Reimu actually does have a lot to do, especially in recent days, I decided to help her get ready, along with a few others.” He glanced back. “You don’t have to worry though, we have more than enough helpers at this point, and we’ve been working on it for a while. Just relax and concentrate on getting your bearings… trust me, I know pretty well how tough it is for newcomers.”

The trip through the forest was uneventful, despite Rinnosuke’s talk of fairies, or yousei, as he called them. Soon enough, we emerged at the old curio shop he had mentioned. Peeking inside, I saw items from various time periods arranged on the dusty shelves, even a computer in one corner and a handheld console or two up near the front. Rinnosuke nodded, smiling a bit. “As I said, things slip through from time to time. It’s just a shame I don’t get many customers.” He shook his head, slipping inside. “If you head down into the village, you’ll find what you need. Keine’s almost always at the school, and nearly everyone knows Akyu, so just ask around and you’ll find her. I’ve got to get back up to the shrine; hopefully I’ll see you around!”

That was the last I saw of him, as he vanished into the stockroom and I headed down the hill towards the village. The first order of business was pretty obviously getting a change of clothes for the next day, ones a bit more suited than my usual rumpled blue dress to attending a shrine festival in. Time had worn on by that point, and the sun was already lighting the sky a blazing red behind the forest. Moving through the village in search of someone who knew where this “Akyu” was right _now_ , instead of simply where she lived, I soon found myself before a low-built schoolhouse. As I approached, a young girl exited the doorway, her purple hair the only really odd thing about her. “I’m afraid lessons are over for the day,” she said quietly. “Keine-sensei has already left…”

I frowned softly, giving her a quick look-over. She wore fairly traditional clothing, a yellow kimono with flowers decorating the sleeves and a short skirt over it. She did sound fairly close to the description… “Are you Akyu?” I asked.

Akyu chuckled softly, pocketing the key. “Yes, I am,” she said quietly. “Now let me see… I definitely don’t recall your face, but you don’t seem to be a youkai… could you be a newcomer?” I nodded quickly, and she smiled. “I imagine Rinnosuke recommended you to me,” she said. “Well, come with me then. I’d be happy to help you learn whatever it is your burning questions are…”

She led me to a fairly well-built manor, opening the doors and slipping inside. A few people greeted her politely as she passed, and she returned the greeting with a fond familiarity. Soon enough, we had entered a fairly large study, and she settled herself at a desk with a massive volume settled on it. “First, I have two questions for you,” she began without preface. “I’m curious as to whether you know _why_ Rinnosuke suggested you speak to me… and what it is exactly that you want to speak about.”

I fidgeted lightly; this girl seemed a lot more intelligent than any girl of ten should be. “Rinnosuke just said that you and Keine would be best to ask if I wanted to know more about the history of Gensokyo… and newcomers from Outside,” I explained. “I was wondering if there was a way back… I have a lot that I wanted to do, and to be honest I’m still not sure how or why I passed through the Border.”

Akyu nodded quietly, smiling a bit. “Yes, Keine-sensei would be ideal to approach on questions of history,” she said softly. “Unfortunately, tonight would be an awful time to do so.” She pointed up to where the full moon could be seen rising above a thick, widespread stand of bamboo that I had noticed earlier, but said nothing more, as if that explained everything. “In any case, I know why Rinnosuke sent you to me. To put it simply, I have an eidetic memory… as did my previous eight incarnations.”

The implications of this kept me silent as she continued. “The Hieda clan, as Are once did on the Outside, has kept Gensokyo’s history for over a thousand years. Thus, I do indeed know a great deal about this land… and I’ve met an outsider or two myself. In this reincarnation, I mean…”

I nodded quietly. “So then… I guess this is the right place to come.” I sighed. “Well… how can I get back, then? I can’t just up and vanish on the others…”

Akyu frowned. “Well… therein lies the rub, as they said of old,” she murmured. “The Hakurei Border was erected because of the powerful youkai in this region… effectively, it was created to end the constant warring between human exterminators and unruly youkai. In other words, it was designed specifically to be strong enough to repel even the most powerful of youkai from crossing.” She rolled her eyes lightly. “Other than the youkai that helped the Hakurei clan to create it, but she’s… fairly harmless.”

I lowered my eyes. “There’s no way back, then?”

Akyu frowned. “Not as a general rule. I suppose if you could convince Reimu to part the barrier long enough for you to get back, but it may be difficult for you to do so... historically, the clan hasn’t been very lenient about things like that.” She sighed. “Generally, the ones who don’t stray and meet with an unfortunate fate simply settle here in the village. Some even develop powers they did not possess in the outside world… I would imagine it’s the concentration of magic in the air here. But no, without the help of Reimu or that youkai, you won’t be able to easily return.”

I nodded, rising slowly. “Thank you… at least I know what I have to do if I’m to leave this place,” I said softly. “By the way… would Keine know more?”

Akyu blinked. “Keine-sensei certainly would, but as I said, it’s unwise to bother her tonight.” She paused, and then chuckled. “Ah, of course, you wouldn’t know… Keine-sensei is a half-beast, a therianthrope.” At my confused look, she paused, drawing down a thin tome from the shelf behind her. “Perhaps the term lycanthrope, or werewolf, is more familiar to you?” she asked. “Like the traditional werewolf, half-beasts are basically human at most times, perhaps with a few supernatural powers. Under certain circumstances, however, such as the sight of the full moon or (more humorously) being doused with water, they transform into various types of beast youkai. Keine-sensei’s case is rather simple; at each full moon, she becomes a hakutaku."

She smiled as she saw the recognition dawning on my face. “She is the teacher here for good reason,” she said quietly. “Because there are certain tasks she can only perform while a hakutaku, on the night of the full moon she is always extremely busy, and quite harried. It’s best not to bother her for a lesson tonight, particularly since being headbutted hurts when the attacker has horns…”

I nodded. “So, wait until tomorrow… or, no, I suppose the day after… there’s the festival tomorrow…”

Akyu nodded quietly. “The festival normally begins around noon, so you probably could meet with her in the morning if you wished. Just be mindful of the long night of work she will have had.”

I nodded again, bowing deeply. “Thank you for your assistance, Akyu,” I said softly. “Now… I don’t want to trouble you at night, and Rinnosuke mentioned there were lodgings here…”

Akyu laughed. “Yes, the Outsider’s Inn. Daisuke’s place. It’s just down the street from here; you’ll find it easily enough as long as you go left when you exit the manor.” She paused. “Before you leave, though, might I ask your name? You never did give it…”

I gasped and bowed quickly. “Oh… i-it’s Chitose Izumo…”

Akyu nodded, smiling softly. “Chitose Izumo. I look forward to seeing your history unfold…” she said gently.

I paused at the exit to her study. “Akyu, can I ask one last thing?” I asked quietly, turning.

Akyu giggled softly. “Besides asking to ask me one last thing? Yes, you may…”

I nodded, rolling my eyes lightly at the old joke… though perhaps to someone from Gensokyo it wasn’t so old. “Being the resident historian, you must know a lot about the more powerful figures around here… There was a girl at the shrine when I arrived, dressed in black with a pointed hat. She had a broomstick, and her hair was blonde and braided on one side…”

Akyu paused. “And you wanted to know who she is?” She paused again, and then burst into a fit of laughter that toppled her backwards out of her chair. “That would be Marisa… Marisa Kirisame, one of the few humans strong enough to go toe-to-toe with a youkai and win.” She smiled, sitting up. “Come to the festival tomorrow, and I can almost guarantee that you’ll learn more about her than you ever wanted to…” She waved lightly to me from the floor, and I turned and headed out into the night.

I quickened my pace as I caught sight of the full moon… hearing about Keine’s race had gotten me wondering if more conventional “monsters”, like her lycanthrope cousins, might exist in this new realm too…

Further down the street, a pair of antique lanterns framed an old hanging signboard, bearing the legend “Outsiders’ Inn”. I stepped up to the heavy oak door and rapped firmly.

The door opened fairly quickly for me, and a tall, muscular bear of a man stood behind it, looking down at me searchingly. After a moment, he nodded. “Haven’t seen you around the village before… you’re from Outside?” he asked, making it more like a statement than a question. When I nodded, he sighed a bit. “Figured as much… well, c’mon in. You can spend the night here, try and get Reimu to send ya back tomorrow…”

I nodded, slipping inside. “Thank you,” I said, bowing lightly. “About her… is she usually unwilling to send people back? Akyu mentioned her clan isn’t always so helpful…”

The man shrugged. “Depends on the generation, really. I hear her grandmother was a real hard-ass, but Reimu’s a good kid. She’s got her faults, sure, but I don’t think she’d trap you here for no reason.”

I paused. “Well… I actually arrived at the Shrine when I first entered Gensokyo, and Reimu said something along the lines of, ‘I’m not dealing with this, go bug someone else.”

He nodded. “Yeah… well, she’s been under a ton of stress lately. You gotta understand, the Hakurei clan are the guardians of the Border. Been that way ever since the beginning. So if there’s a problem, some uppity youkai causing trouble…” He punctuated his remark with a snort. “Well, it’s up to Reimu to take care of it. And there’ve been a _lot_ of uppity youkai causing trouble lately.” He sighed and extended a hand. “Anyway… welcome to the inn. I’m Daisuke Kirisame, proprietor.”

I blinked at the name, shaking his hand lightly. “Chitose Izumo…”

Daisuke caught my look and shook his head. “Met her already, have you?” he muttered.

I paused. “Briefly… she took off looking for someone named Alice before we had a chance to talk,” I explained. “So she’s your daughter, then?”

Daisuke put a hand to his forehead. “Was,” he muttered. “She hasn’t really been part of this family since she was, oh, about nine.” He paused. “I’ll be straight-out about it, I hate magic. She was born with the talent for it, all right, lots of talent. I told her not to mess around with it, just settle in the village like the rest of the family has for generations. Instead, she left and took up with that damn ghost Mima and ended up becoming one of the strongest youkai-hunters in the whole realm.”

I blinked, shuffling my feet a little. “… Sounds like something to be proud of, really…”

Daisuke groaned. “Proud?” he roared. “What’s there to be proud about of a daughter who flies around dressed like a witch, worships some damn evil spirit like a mother figure, and alternates between blasting the hell out of and having picnics with pretty much every youkai on the planet?”

I tilted my head. “You said she was a youkai-hunter…?”

Daisuke paused, and shrugged. “Eh…” he said, his voice lowering. “Most of ‘em say they’ve turned over a new leaf after Reimu and Marisa get through with ‘em. Not that I believe ‘em of course,” he added with another snort. “I don’t really expect a vampire that blanketed the sky with red mist or a crazy ghost with the power to kill people just by thinking about it to just up and stop their evil ways…”

I nodded. “Not fond of youkai, are you…?”

Daisuke slapped his forehead. “Course not!” he roared again. “Now, there’s a couple that’re decent, of course… Rinnosuke’s a good man, used to work here actually, and Alice, well, she may keep to herself, but she’s one of the best damn craftsmen I’ve ever seen. But the sheer number of youkai that roam around wantonly attacking or just messing around with everyone around them… ugh. And to think she’s in tight with half of ‘em.” He shook his head, turning to the board behind him where the keys were hanging. “Youkai aren’t for befriending, they’re for keeping at about three arms’ length and watching like a hawk,” he said, pulling down a key and holding it out to me. “If we didn’t have Keine around to protect us, I shudder to think what this village would look like now…”

I took the key lightly, deciding that ten years later was a bit late to be intruding on a family quarrel. “Keine protects the village, then? Along with Reimu?”

Daisuke nodded quietly. “Yeah… heh, if ever there was a youkai that broke the mold, it’d be Keine. She’s smart, actually cares about humans, and when the other two usually just rush off and beat the crud out of whoever’s causing the latest incident, Keine’s moving about within the village and keeping everything calm. When she’s human, she can even hide the village with her powers, and if she’s in her beastly form, well…” He chuckled. “A pissed-off hakutaku is not someone you want to tangle with, believe me. It takes someone on Reimu’s level to fight her when she’s like that.”

I nodded, smiling. “I’d certainly like to meet her… it’s a shame I arrived on a full moon night…” I paused, something Daisuke had said striking me. “You said she can… ‘hide’ the village?”

Daisuke grinned. “S’ one of the few times I’ve ever seen youkai powers at work and been glad about it,” he said. “It was back during that weird incident where the night literally wouldn’t end… even the moon stopped in the sky except for when it’d jump forward an hour or so every now and then. I’d gone out to Kourindou to talk with Rinnosuke, figured he might know what the heck was going on. When I got back, Keine was standing on that hill that overlooks the village, and the whole place was disappearing. Just… fading, piece by piece, until there was just a flat plain.” He grinned. “Well, I was scared as heck, but Keine saw me and was really reassuring… she explained what she was doing, and that there was an incident that might threaten the village, so she was just taking precautions. It was around that point that I started fading out too, so I don’t remember further than that.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand though, what did she do?”

Daisuke grinned. “As a were-hakutaku, Keine’s primary ability is to ‘consume’ the history of something. So that’s what she was doing to the village… consuming its history so that it, temporarily, ‘never existed’. And you can’t hurt something that never existed…” He smiled a bit. “Teacher and protector… almost makes you forget about how evil some of those bastards are…”

I blinked. “To be fair, I haven’t met many yet, but Rinnosuke and Suika didn’t seem so awful…”

Daisuke shook his head, groaning yet again. “Oh, don’t get me started on that damn oni. Suffice to say she causes more trouble than most of the youkai around… barring that damn kyoukai…” He muttered those last words, glancing around a bit.

The word was unfamiliar to me. “Kyoukai…?”

Daisuke nodded. “Yeah… the characters taken together mean ‘boundary’. That’s what we all call her… the youkai with power over the boundaries of this world… in fact, I’d lay even odds that she’s the reason you wound up here. She was involved in making the damn barrier, I doubt moving back and forth over it is a problem for her…”

I blinked. “Akyu mentioned a youkai who helped to form the barrier, yes…”

Daisuke nodded again. “If Keine’s the best example of a good youkai we’ve got, the kyoukai’s probably the best example of a classical youkai,” he said, frowning. “She spends most of her time sleeping, or so Akyu says, and wakes up pretty much solely to play pranks on people. I suppose I should be grateful that someone with the ability to fundamentally warp reality is so childish, but couldn’t she use it for something a little more worthwhile than swiping food from Reimu and playing her youkai games with whoever strikes her fancy at the time?” He groaned. “Most people who get ‘spirited away’ are thanks to her… so if Reimu won’t do it, your best bet to getting home would be to get on your knees and beg the damn kyoukai to send you back…”

He yawned. “Anyway… I’ve kept us both up far too late with all this talking… your room’s up in the back, on the second floor. I’m heading to bed myself… take care, Chitose. Be polite to Reimu tomorrow…” He rubbed his eyes and slipped into the back, while I headed upstairs.

The room was nice enough, a bit small but with a wide window and a quite comfortable bed. Standing at the open window, I looked out at the sky, marveling at just how many stars I could see. “So… tomorrow is a festival…” I murmured.

A voice spoke behind me. “And yesterday was not…” As I turned, it chuckled. “Sorry… private joke. You wouldn’t know why that’s funny.”

The voice, calm, lilting, and playful, was coming from a young woman in a deep purple dress, currently smiling widely at me. Red ribbons adorned her clothing, and she wore a light pink cap over her long, blonde hair. Behind her, for a moment, I caught what almost looked like a slit in the air, a wound that parted to reveal eyes peering out among a purple background that matched her dress exactly; however, as I tried to look closer, it closed up like a blinking eye and vanished.

“Who are you…?” I asked, taking a hesitant step back.

The girl extended one of her white-gloved hands, smiling. The other held an open parasol against her shoulder. “I’ve been watching you for a while,” she said softly, “But this is our first time meeting in person. I’m delighted… My name is Yukari Yakumo, although I’m sure you’ve already heard my less-than-flattering nickname from the owner downstairs…”

I blinked, taking another step back and ending up forced to lean on the sill for support. “You’re that… boundary youkai that Daisuke mentioned…?”

Yukari smiled, bowing lightly. “Indeed,” she said with a soft chuckle. “And as you’ve probably surmised, I am indeed the one responsible for your own little ‘spiriting away’.”

I frowned at her. “Why…?”

Yukari laughed softly behind her hand, and then extended it again. “Now, I’m sure you don’t expect to be able to demand answers from someone you won’t even share the proper pleasantries of introduction with, hm?”

Irritating as she was about it, she had a point, and I gently shook her hand. “I am Chitose Izumo… though I have to admit I find it strange that you don’t know my name, since you claim to have been watching me…”

Yukari smiled. “Who said I didn’t know it? But whether or not your name is known, it is proper to give it when asked,” she said, twirling her parasol lightly. “Now, then… how are you enjoying Gensokyo?”

I blinked. “Not… enough that I don’t want to return…” I replied cautiously.

Yukari giggled lightly. “Well, give our realm a try, anyway… You need not fear, no matter what the youkai-hater downstairs may think. I’m not about to let you simply end up attacked and eaten on your first day in this realm…”

I paused, considering my options. “But… I have a lot of things to take care of Outside,” I protested. “I have my home, family, friends… and there’s still the other Hakurei Shrine to take care of…”

Yukari smiled. “Ah, yes, that project of yours that caused me to take notice of you in the first place… Chitose, your devotion to the old shrine is admirable, but your attempts are sadly doomed on a fundamental level.”

Her words stung, and I glared at her. “And why would that be? The shrine’s looking better already… I’ve even started replacing the old caved-in flooring…”

Yukari smiled, and I found myself trailing off. “I know, Chitose,” she said quietly. “You’ve been doing a marvelous job, but you’ve misunderstood something about the nature of the Great Border.” She paused. “Let me say it this way… the shrine you have been repairing so diligently is more a reflection of the shrine in Gensokyo than any real building. Perhaps you’ve noticed…?”

I paused, and then frowned. Now that she mentioned it…

Yukari’s grin grew even more maddening. “Projects that seemed to undo themselves by the time you returned, weeds that regrew just a _bit_ too fast… The shrine Outside is a shadow, Chitose. Your ministrations have been drained away across the barrier… in other words, the faith and repairs you have done weren’t wasted, but they were transferred to the shrine in Gensokyo.” She laughed behind one gloved hand. “And don’t think it doesn’t need it… well, the faith not so much, but the repairs have been a great help, I can assure you of that.”

I frowned. “So then… the cherry blossoms?”

Yukari shook her head. “Being that close to the Great Border drains the land,” she said. “They can’t bloom. Showing you how beautifully they bloom in Gensokyo, thanks in part to your care, was the closest I could do to granting that wish.” She smiled lightly. “Worth the trip, don’t you agree?”

I sighed. “Even so, I want to return… This isn’t my world. I don’t belong in it.”

Yukari laughed lightly again, stepping lightly towards me and standing by the window. “Are you so sure of that? You wouldn’t be the first newcomer to settle here, not in the slightest. And you haven’t seen even a thimble’s worth of our world…” She gave another infuriating grin, ticking off on her fingers. “You’ve run into Suika, met our resident incident-solvers briefly, had a nice chat with Rinnosuke and Akyu, and finally you met Daisuke, and of course myself. Our realm is far more than that, Chitose… far more.”

I looked out the window, knowing what she was getting at. The stars did seem even more beautiful than usual… “You’re not going to return me until you’re satisfied, are you?” I asked softly.

Yukari giggled, and leapt lightly out the window, hanging there in the air as she twirled her parasol. “No, I’m not,” she cooed in a singsong voice. “And besides, I want to see how your ‘potential’ develops…” She giggled, and that strange wound appeared again. I had enough time to notice that the ends were tied with ribbon this time before she dove into it and vanished completely, leaving nothing but the night village behind her.

I shook my head, laying down and tugging the blankets over my head. At least now I knew what that chorus at the shrine had meant, as I muttered the words myself just before I fell into a doze. “Damnit, Yukari…”

 


	2. Second Day ~ Hakurei Spring Festival

 Leaving the window open proved to be a mistake. By dawn, I had been awakened by the still-chilly night wind, and as the light stole in through my window it found me already dressed and prepared for the festival. I recalled that Akyu had said it would be starting at around noon, and wondered what to do to pass the time… well, navigating that forest would probably take some time, I reasoned, and I slipped downstairs to ask Daisuke about payment.

As I opened the door, though, I found a note at my feet. _Don’t worry about payment, kiddo. Just leave the key where it was, and make sure you get Reimu to send ya back. Be polite about it though; that girl is hot-headed at even the best of times. -Daisuke_

I smiled a little. Free lodging to someone from Outside… no wonder Rinnosuke had pointed me this way. I settled the key back into its proper place and slipped out into the early morning air. As I walked, I found myself heading towards the schoolhouse, and wondered if Keine would be there… the moon had vanished from the sky, so her “duties” in her hakutaku form, whatever those might be, were likely concluded…

As I reached the schoolhouse door, and found it locked, a light cough came from behind me, and I turned to see Akyu standing there, shaking her head lightly. “Keine-sensei had a rough night,” she said quietly. “She grumbled something about strange lights buzzing by her all night long while she was trying to get her work done and then went off home to sleep…” She shook her head. “I doubt she’ll be attending the festival, unfortunately…”

I nodded. “I met that youkai you talked about… the one who helped to create the Great Border.”

Akyu blinked, eyes slightly wide now. “Yukari Yakumo, you mean?” she asked softly. “Interesting…”

I groaned. “More like infuriating…”

Akyu giggled softly. “Yes, she tends to have that effect on people,” she said gently. “So, you met her… I imagine you didn’t just ‘run into’ her, though…”

I nodded again. “She told me that she’s the one who brought me here,” I said quietly. “And she won’t send me back until she’s ‘satisfied’, whatever that means… and something about ‘potential’ too…”

Akyu smiled. “Yes, I’m afraid that’s her way,” she said. “She isn’t something that humans can fathom. All we can really do is be thankful she isn’t the malicious sort… if she was, we humans simply wouldn’t survive, guardian shrine maiden or no.”

I nodded. “Speaking of shrine maidens, will you be going to the festival today?”

Akyu shook her head. “No… and I don’t think Keine will be either,” she said, frowning a bit. “She’s exhausted enough after a normal full moon, and apparently someone saw fit to bother her all night long… likely some new youkai playing about. Or perhaps the fairies… they tend to be affected by the full moon and become rather aggressive. And much stronger than usual.”

I blinked. “There’s that word again… Rinnosuke said something about the fairies making us lose our way yesterday, but there weren’t any problems getting here…”

Akyu smiled. “You were lucky,” she said. “There are quite a few fairies in the Forest of Magic, and a handful that are particularly powerful and mischievous. If you’re hoping to get to the festival, I’d humbly suggest you start as soon as you can. The fairies have been known to cause rather extreme delays, and for someone who doesn’t have training dealing with them they’re even more of a bother.”

I nodded, shivering a little. “What if they attack me?”

Akyu giggled a little. “If they start acting aggressive, just make use of the fact that with one possible exception, fairies are dumb as rocks,” she said. “Especially the one that lives at Misty Lake… honestly, though, you can just tell them a riddle and you should be able to escape while they’re struggling to figure it out.”

I tilted my head. “Does that, er, really work?” I asked hesitantly.

Akyu giggled again. “I’ve had occasion to use that trick myself,” she said. “If they’re aggressive, and not just playing pranks on you, it’s foolproof.” As I nodded and turned to head towards Kourindou, she waved lightly. “Say hello to Reimu for me, will you?” she called.

I nodded, and headed out through the sleeping village.

The forest seemed dark and oppressive in the dawn light, and as I slipped under the eaves of the trees, I could have sworn I heard a giggle, but as I tried to listen, it faded into the sound of ruffling leaves. Keeping my eyes open for signs of movement, I headed slowly through the dim green space, eyes watching as the sun slowly rose and began to light the leaves above from behind.

It was a few hours before I found myself at the shore of a lake and knew I’d gotten myself somehow hopelessly lost. The air seemed colder here, and I thought I caught a glimpse of a shadow moving amidst the fog over the lake’s center, heading towards the far end. To one side of the lake I could see a mansion, and I wondered if my eyes were playing tricks on me… ignoring the moving figure amidst the fog, I headed towards it. There was a red-headed girl who looked far more Chinese than Japanese sitting beside the gate, sound asleep.

I blinked and knelt before the girl, shaking her lightly. “Hello…?”

A hand tapped me softly on the shoulder, and a soft voice called to me. “She won’t wake. She never does when she gets like this.”

I looked up. The voice belonged to a silver-haired young woman in a simple maid’s uniform, her arms crossed and a look of patient forbearance etched on her face. “Why are you trying to get inside?” she asked.

I tilted my head. “W-well, I need directions… I was trying to head due south by the sun, but I wound up by that lake…”

The woman frowned, and then suddenly turned and glared at a spot several yards behind me. “Don’t you three have something better to do?” she called loudly.

With a chorus of giggles, three figures suddenly appeared and darted off towards the lake. The maid groaned softly. “Well, that explains a lot,” she said, offering a hand to help me up. “I guess those three idiots thought it would be funny to misdirect you here… there,” she added, as I was pulled to my feet and she opened the gate for me. “Allow me to introduce myself… my name is Sakuya Izayoi, the head maid here.”

I nodded, moving inside. “Where exactly _is_ here, though?” I asked.

Sakuya nodded lightly. “This is the Scarlet Devil’s Mansion,” she said quietly, and then laughed a little at seeing my reaction. “Oh, no, don’t be afraid. I’m inviting you in as a guest, and there’s no real ‘Devil’ here; that’s just a nickname the mistress picked up years ago.” She smiled and opened the main door. “We were preparing to head out towards the festival… I imagine you were heading that way too? I’m sure we can accommodate you for a little while until the time comes to head out.”

I nodded, glancing around carefully. There weren’t a lot of windows, but the interior was still well-lit with a dull light. “Thank you… though, won’t they try and misdirect you as well?”

Sakuya laughed. “No, they know better than to toy with the mistress…” she said simply. “Besides, we would be able to tell if they were.” She paused, and then turned, knocking on a door. “I think the library should be comfortable enough while we finish preparing…” she said, knocking again. “Miss Patchouli, are you in there?”

The door opened after a moment, and my first impression of the girl who looked out was… purple. The girl’s floor-length dress was lavender, splitting at the front to reveal a purple-striped layer beneath, and she wore a lavender cap over her long, dark purple hair. The only real other signs of color on her were her pale skin and the red-and-blue ribbons tied onto her cap and long bangs, as well as a simple golden crescent on the front of the cap. “Yes…?” she asked after a moment, eyeing me.

Sakuya bowed lightly. “Miss Patchouli, this girl wound up at our front gate… the fairies were playing a prank on her, it seems. Since she’s headed for the festival as well, might I ask you to let her wait in the library while the mistress and I finish preparing to leave?”

Patchouli gave me a long look, and eventually nodded. “Right… let me take care of one or two things briefly. I’ll open the door again once it’s all right to enter…” she said, turning and closing the door after her.

Sakuya nodded. “Miss Patchouli is a dear old friend of the mistress,” she said softly. “The library is her domain; even the mistress doesn’t question her authority within the walls.”

I nodded. “Who exactly is your mistress, Sakuya?” I asked.

Sakuya smiled lightly. “Her name is Remilia Scarlet,” she said. “She’s a vampire.”

I blinked. “And she’s… going to this festival?” I asked.

Sakuya blinked. “Yes, why not?” she asked. “She’ll have her parasol…” She paused. “The mistress is calling me… I should go.” She turned and sped off suddenly down the hall, leaving me standing there as the door finally opened again.

I entered the library cautiously. ~A vampire who escapes the sun… with a parasol? Yukari was right, I hadn’t even scratched the surface of this world…~

My musings were cut off as I realized just how spacious this library was. Small flames burned in sealed containers on some of the shelf ends, magical most likely, but the lighting in the library was still quite dim. Even so, I could see shelves stretching on for what seemed like miles before me.

Patchouli’s voice spoke from the dim space between the closest two shelves. “Space manipulation is useful, isn’t it? Step into the magic circle, please… there’s something I want to see.”

I blinked, and looked down. In the wide space between the first two rows of bookshelves were several plush armchairs, as well as a number of stacks of books and a single desk covered in sheets of paper; Patchouli seemed to have set up a study for herself in the middle of her own library. The chairs had been shifted to the sides, however, and the center of the study was dominated by a strange, cryptic design drawn on the ground in glowing violet lines. A pair of concentric circles formed its base, and in the ring between them, cryptic symbols had been scrawled that put me in the mind of a Scandinavian book I had seen once. Inscribed in the inner circle was a simple six-pointed star.

As I lost myself examining the design, Patchouli’s voice broke in again, impatient. “Please, step on. It’s not exactly easy to keep that maintained…” I could see the bookish magician standing between two shelves at the far side of the room now. Hesitantly, I followed her command and walked until I was standing at the center of the star.

As I reached the center, I realized Patchouli was holding a book open in her hands and reading under her breath from it. As she finished and looked up, the violet lines flared even more brightly, and I found myself surrounded by a column of violet light. I could see Patchouli watching me impassively through the violet curtain as it began to separate and shrink, forming three slim violet bands around me. I felt an odd sensation as the rings began to spin, and as I looked down I saw my body covered in that same violet glow…

The light faded after a few minutes, the magic circle on the floor slowly dimming out. Patchouli nodded quietly. “Interesting…” She glanced up at me. “Did you feel anything in particular while I was casting that spell? Besides all the magical energy flowing, of course…”

I blinked at the question, but responded, “It felt… almost like the energy was searching for something…” I paused. “What was that all about?”

Patchouli grinned, just a bit. “Bingo… That spell was designed to analyze things, especially people,” she said. “So, for example, Chitose, I now know your name and that you’re a newcomer in Gensokyo. And from your reaction to the spell, I can confirm that while it might still only be potential, you’re definitely sensitive to magic.”

I blinked. “Magic…?”

Patchouli smiled a bit. “You’d be far from the first person from Outside to develop powers after coming to Gensokyo, Chitose,” she said. “Tell me, is there anything you were particularly good at, while you were Outside? Awakened powers often had just a hint of presence in the person beforehand, even if they didn’t realize it…”

I blinked, thinking back, but before I could form any sort of definitive answer, there was a sudden clatter from outside, and a loud voice calling, “Yee-ha!” Patchouli groaned. “What is it now…? Chitose, can you check? I need to clean up some of this…” She flipped a few pages in her grimoire and muttered to herself, the chairs starting to rearrange themselves.

As I stepped out of the library, I was nearly flattened by a familiar black-and-white blur that shot overhead, giggling wildly as a stream of what looked like glowing stars flew out from it and towards a few of what I assumed were maids, though their wings told me they were fairies. Marisa skidded to a halt in midair on her broom, and swooped towards the door, halting as Patchouli emerged close on my heels and glared up at her. “You again, black-white?” she demanded. “Don’t you have a shrine maiden to annoy? And a festival to get to?”

Marisa grinned, tugging her hat brim lower over her eyes. “Yeah, but that’s not for another couple of hours, ze! I’ve got time to drop by and borrow some stuff first.”

Patchouli shook her head. “We don’t even have to go over all the things wrong with you calling this ‘borrowing’ again, do we?”

Marisa grinned. “Guess not, ze! Now fork over yer books!”

Patchouli’s eye twitched lightly. “I think not! Back up, Chitose…” She pulled what looked like a page torn from a grimoire out of her dress. “This ought to be enough for you. Wood Sign: Green Storm!”

The page leapt from her hand and began to dance in the air in front of her, and to my amazement I saw what looked like shining rice grains streaming out from the magician in all directions. As they grew further from her, they began to curve in all directions, creating almost a vortex of them around her… it was strangely hypnotic to watch the paths of the individual grains crossing and separating again.

Marisa grinned. “Ooh, you’re feelin’ more lively than usual today, ze!” she crowed. “But, I don’t really have much time to play… sorry in advance!” She swept her hat off of her head and reached into it - part of me wondered if she was going to pull out a rabbit - and drew out a small octagonal device. Trigrams were etched into the surface, and on some level I had the feeling I’d seen something like it before.

Patchouli blanched, the grains moving out faster now, moving to encircle the witch. “W-wait a second… you’re not seriously going to open with that…”

Marisa gave a manic grin, dodging about on her broom as she darted and weaved in among the flying grains with surprisingly small margins. “I just told ya, I don’t have time to draw it out! Make it up to you next time, I promise, ze!” She held the device forward, and it began to hover just before her hand and spin of its own accord. “Here goes… Love Sign: Master Spark!”

Patchouli’s “sign”, whatever that meant, had been almost elegant in its appearance. Marisa, on the other hand, had elected to reply with a colossal laser blast that shook the very air around me; I was forced to cover my ears at the loud noise it made as it passed. Patchouli had time for a single eye-twitch before it completely enveloped her, the grains bursting into sparkles with a loud snap and disappearing as she was hurled back into the library with a loud cry of, “Mukyu!”

Marisa giggled and swooped into the library, leaving me standing there stunned. Sakuya came up beside me and groaned. “It’s the black-white again, isn’t it?”

I felt numb, just staring. “P-patchouli…”

Sakuya shook her head and patted my shoulder gently. “Don’t worry, she’s fine,” she said softly, as Marisa swooped back out, clutching a heavy bag and grinning. Her grin faltered a bit as she noticed the maid. “O-oh, heya Sakuya… just borrowing a few books…”

Sakuya raised an eyebrow, placing her hands lightly on her hips. “And re-acquainting the mistress’ close friend with that Spark of yours, I imagine?”

Marisa grinned and rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, yeah… normally I’d run through a few patterns before I haul out the big guns, but I’m sort of in a hurry…”

In literally an instant, Sakuya was next to Marisa, a stack of books in her hands where only her pocketwatch had been a moment before. Marisa blinked and looked down at Sakuya, then at her bag. "Er... those're the books I was gonna borrow from Patchy... but my bag's still full..." She tilted her head. "Did you put something in my bag, Sakuya?"

Sakuya smiled lightly as she set the books down by the door. "Guess," she said primly.

Marisa tilted her head. "Is it a knife...?"

Sakuya rolled her eyes. "No..."

Marisa hefted her bag. "Um... Is it several dozen knives?"

Sakuya laughed behind one hand. "Getting closer..."

"Is it several dozen knives, each with time locally frozen around them until I open the bag and you let time resume, ze?" Marisa asked, opening the bag.

Sakuya lifted her pocketwatch again and clicked it. "Yes," she said simply, and laughed as the witch rolled backwards in midair to avoid the sudden torrent of silver knives that leapt from the open bag's mouth, impacted on the ceiling... and simply disappeared.

Marisa righted herself in the air, grinning wildly. "Should've seen that coming, ze..." She smiled. "I'm runnin' low on time, so I guess you guys win this round... I'll drop by another time and give ya a proper duel, okay?" She turned and floated down the hall.

Sakuya smirked, and a knife slid out of her sleeve. "Marisa, you know very well how I will react to you intruding in the mistress' home," she said. With a casual flick, she sent the knife speeding after Marisa, and then clicked her pocketwatch again. One knife suddenly became ten, and Marisa sped down the hallway and out of sight as they flew towards her, giggling all the way.

Patchouli appeared in the doorway, brushing a bit of ash from her dress and adjusting her cap. "Thanks, Sakuya," she said softly, lifting the books. "Stupid black-white, starting off the battle with that stupid Spark..."

Sakuya sighed lightly. "Well, I imagine she expected us to be on our way to the festival already..." she said. "Which we really should be soon... I'm not sure what's keeping the mistress..."

Behind me, I heard the sound of a door opening, and I turned. The door was open a crack, but I could see a flight of stairs leading down, and a little girl carefully clutching the door with one hand as she peeked her head around it. "I heard a lot of noise... what's going on up here?" she asked.

Patchouli blinked. "Flandre, what're you doing up here...?"

Flandre pouted a little. "I heard fighting going on... is the witch here again? I wanna play with her..."

Sakuya shook her head and moved closer. "She already left, Flandre... c'mon, let's head back down to your room..." she said soothingly.

Flandre pouted a little more, and then blinked, opening the door fully and taking a step out as she saw me. "Ooh, who's that? We have a visitor?" she asked, eyes brightening.

Patchouli folded her arms. "She's a human, Flandre... a newcomer. C'mon now, you know the rules..."

Flandre folded her arms right back at Patchouli. Now that she was out from behind the door, I could see her better. The young girl wore a simple two-piece red outfit with no sleeves, a ruffled pink top underneath. She had soft blonde hair covered by a pink cap that reminded me of Yukari's, and her red eyes were regarding me with curiosity. Most curious of all, however, she held a long, twisting piece of metal in one hand, topped with a triangle that reminded me uncomfortably of a Western devil's tail, and two wings sprouted from her back, though they looked almost as if they were handmade... two long and slightly crooked black "limbs" with crystals of seven colors hanging from them, jingling as she walked.

"I want to play, Patchy," she was saying, a deeper pout etched onto her face. "C'mon! I'm not gonna get to go to the festival already, lemme come out for a bit!"

Sakuya moved to Flandre's side, her touch gentle as she lifted the small girl into her arms. "Come on, Flandre, let's head back down," she said softly. "I'll play with you for a while. All right?"

Flandre seemed to perk up immensely at that, and nestled in against the maid. "Yay!" she cheered, settling her arms around Sakuya's neck. "Okay, Saku..."

Patchouli sighed a little as the door closed and Sakuya's footsteps faded. "Kind of a shame about her, really..." she murmured, lifting her stack of books again.

I followed her into the library. "What is?" I asked. "Who was she...?"

Patchouli glanced back, frowning a little. "That's Remilia's sister, Flandre. Unfortunately, well... While Remilia can be childish at times, Flandre is literally insane. She has bouts where she acts like a normal child, but at other times she's incredibly aggressive and destructive." She paused. "Worse, she's even more powerful than her elder sister. So, we don't have a lot of choice... she's confined to the basement at pretty much all times."

I blinked. "Can't you get her treated...?"

Patchouli shook her head. "I don't know what medicine's like now in the outside world, but when we left there for Gensokyo, there really was no alternative." She paused. "When I say powerful, I mean it. She's capable of incredible amounts of destruction; just look at some of her toys if you want to see how much."

I shook my head slowly. "That little girl...?"

Patchouli smirked. "That little girl is a vampire who recently turned five hundred," she said lightly. "She may be naive and suffer from attacks of pure psychosis, but she's older than I am. It really is a shame though, because she's sweet and playful when she's not out of her mind..." She paused. "I did... have one idea... I'm going to try and put it into practice if I can, but I don't want to get my hopes up yet."

The library was soon tidied, and as we left, Sakuya emerged from the basement, mopping her brow. Patchouli smiled a bit. "Sakuya's the only one around here who can really get near Flandre... so she does at least have someone taking care of her, as often as she can at least."

Sakuya glanced down the hall. "Ah, mistress, there you are..."

I turned to see a girl of about ten strolling lightly down the hall towards us. She wore a pale pink dress with a red ribbon tied around the waist, a strange design on the front that resembled the caduceus symbol, and a cap similar to Flandre's. Wings extended from her back as well, but more batlike than Flandre's odd crystals. She smirked lightly as she approached. "Patchy, Sakuya, there you are..." She twirled her pale pink parasol lightly, and I noticed it seemed larger than a normal one; it would have to be to block the sun effectively, I reasoned. "And who is this...? Patchy, are there rats in the library again?"

Patchouli shook her head. "No... the black-white showed up again, but Sakuya took back the books and chased her off."

I bowed lightly, a bit surprised that the mistress of the mansion looked scarcely older than Flandre. "My name is Chitose Izumo, Miss Scarlet," I said, careful to keep a polite tone.

Remilia dropped into a light curtsy. "Charmed," she said lightly, glancing to Sakuya.

Sakuya nodded. "Those three tricked her here," she said, her voice quieter around the mistress. "As she was trying to go to the festival too, I thought it better that she wait here for a bit and come with us."

Remilia blinked. "The prankster trio? Again? Honestly, those three need a new hobby..." She shook her head. "Well, I suppose she can come along. It's not like anyone is stupid enough to attack the three of us at once; with us as an escort there's no way she'll run into a problem."

I bowed again to her. "Thank you, Miss Scarlet."

Remilia waved a hand. "Remilia will do fine..." She twirled her parasol lightly again. "Mm, we should get going, though..."

Sakuya nodded, checking her pocketwatch. She clicked it, and suddenly she was next to Remilia, holding a basket in her hands. "Yes, let's go, mistress," she said. "It's already growing towards eleven, and I don't think our companion can fly..."

Remilia pouted a little. "Well, that's bothersome... oh, well..."

Patchouli came up beside us. "I think I'll come too, Remi," she said lightly. "Eirin keeps saying I should get out of the library anyway... and I get the feeling things might be a bit interesting this year..." She gave me a smug glance.

The trip through the forest this time proved uneventful. The figure in the lake fog did not reappear, and I wondered idly if it had gone to the festival too. When we finally emerged from the trees and arrived at the Hakurei Shrine once again, it seemed almost to have been completely transformed. The somewhat dingy shrine I remembered the day before had been cleaned to the point of sparkling, and literally dozens of humans and youkai were gathered around on the lawn surrounding the gate, blankets spread here and there as everyone ate and drank and generally enjoyed themselves. It was truly a glorious spring festival.

I fairly quickly found myself separated from the mansion's residents, and was heading towards the shrine itself when a loud whistling noise came from above and a small knot of winged youkai scattered as a young girl with wild, long blue hair crashed down from above, standing atop an odd rope-wrapped stone that had fallen with her and posing.

An instant later, Reimu had jumped up behind her and whacked her hard over the head with her miko's wand. "You again?" she demanded. "What do you want this time, you idiot?"

The girl pouted and turned to face Reimu, and as I got my first look at her, that cute face framed by her pretty blue hair and topped with an almost adorable peach-adorned hat, I almost lost my breath. "Aww, Reimu, what was that for?" she whined. "I just came to join the festival like everyone else..."

Reimu's eye twitched. "It took me six months to get the shrine repaired after that stunt you pulled!" she returned, glaring. "I'm not gonna play buddy-buddy with you just because.... because..."

The girl smiled, and her face became almost saint-like. "Because I never really intended to cause any harm to Gensokyo, helped to rebuild the shrine until Yukari interfered, and placed that keystone that will protect everyone from a catastrophic earthquake?" she asked, giggling.

Reimu grit her teeth, and crossed her arms. "You still destroyed my shrine and threatened to lay Gensokyo to waste..." she pointed out.

Before the girl could respond, two other girls floated up behind her, glaring. Both had short red-blonde hair, and they looked fairly similar, almost like twins. One wore a long dress the color of autumn leaves, and the other wore a burgundy cap with a bunch of grapes somehow worked into the brim. "Not to mention all the ruckus you caused with the harvest!" the girl with grapes pointed out.

The other girl frowned. "Yeah! Autumn was a huge hassle for the humans because of what you did!" she shouted.

The blue-haired girl backed away, raising her hands. "W-well, I left that sword behind at home, so I can't cause any trouble even if I wanted to! Really!" She pouted at Reimu. "Pleeeease let me join the festival?"

Reimu raised a hand, but blinked as a bolt of lightning struck the girl, bringing a loud yelp from her but little other reaction. In the wake of the flash, another girl had appeared, Her hair was a darker blue, and her hat had a long red ribbon instead of peaches, her clothing pink, like Remilia's, with a deep red border, a long black skirt, and a long length of cloth that settled around and under her shoulders almost like a shawl.

Reimu smirked a bit. "Okay then. Iku, long as you promise to keep her under control, you two can both come." She turned on her heel. "Now quit bothering me, 'kay? This is supposed to be when I get to relax, not get reminded of far-too-recent incidents..."

The girl stuck out her tongue as Reimu departed, and then turned to me with that same beatific smile. "Hello there..." she said, her voice soft now.

I found myself blushing, and dropped into a low bow. "H-hello..." I stammered out. "M-my name is Chitose... Chitose Izumo..."

The girl giggled softly, extending her hand. "Hello, Chitose," she said. "I am the eldest daughter of the Hinanawi clan, Tenshi."

Iku rolled her eyes lightly. "Tenshi, you're dazzling the mortals again..."

Tenshi giggled softly, and suddenly the radiant beauty she was exuding seemed to shut off, leaving her still beautiful, but in a more earthly way. "Sorry about that..." she said happily. "I forget sometimes the effect that celestials have on normal humans..."

Iku shook her head. "Not that you'd know she was a celestial, to look at her behavior," she said levelly. "I am Iku Nagae, envoy of the Dragon Palace."

I blinked, glancing around. "Er... don't envoys usually only appear to herald earthquakes...?"

Iku frowned. "Oh, it's always a threat of an earthquake when the Eldest Daughter is about... but I serve also as retainer for the Hinanai clan," she explained.

Tenshi pouted. "I told you, the sword is at home in my father's chambers!" she protested. "I couldn't cause an earthquake if I wanted to..."

The twins were still behind her, and the one with a leaf in her hair pouted. "You'd better not! It was almost a disaster last time!"

Another voice, more gentle, spoke up. "Well, at least you two gained some much-needed faith out of it, didn't you?"

The grape-haired girl turned to face the new speaker and frowned. "Yeah, but it's all that fair-weather sort of faith that people get around hard times," she said. "With the shrine rebuilt and the flowers blooming, I'm already losing what I got..."

It hadn't registered at first, but as I watched the twins talking with the newcomer, I realized that I was quite literally standing next to at least one goddess. Who else would talk about "gaining" and "losing" faith? I almost immediately bowed low to the twins, holding it until one giggled. "C'mon, it's a festival, silly. Besides, it's not really the time of year to offer to a harvest goddess anyway, right?"

I slowly raised my head. "If you only offer when you need something, how can you expect the gods to have the power to grant your request?" I replied.

The grape-wearing girl giggled. "Good answer..." she said softly. "I already heard your name, but I'm Minoriko Aki, goddess of good harvest." She pointed to the other girl. "And this is my sister, Shizuha, goddess of the changing autumn leaves."

The third girl laughed softly, and I turned to look at her now. The newcomer was wearing what looked like a modified miko's outfit, similar to Reimu's, complete with detached sleeves, but her overall color theme was blue. She had green hair down to her bust, one long lock wound about with an ornament shaped like a coiled snake. On second viewing, I saw she also had a clip in her hair shaped like a cartoonish frog, and I wondered idly why she would ornament her hair that way.

"I'm kind of surprised to see you two here, so far from the mountain," she was saying. "You know about the Moriya festival, right?"

Minoriko giggled a little. "Yeah, but there's only people we already know and have faith from there," she said lightly. "We wanted to come and meet people here."

The girl looked at me and smiled, and I bowed slightly. "Chitose Izumo," I said, in response to her unasked question. "Are you their miko...?"

Shizuha burst into giggles. "Oh, we'd be a lot more powerful than this if she was _our_ miko, Chitose."

The girl curtsied and smiled. "I'm Sanae Kochiya, miko to Kanako-sama of the Moriya shrine," she said quietly.

The name was familiar to me... I thought for a while, and then gasped. "W-wait... not the Moriya shrine near Lake Suwa?"

Sanae blinked. "Um, yes..."

I shook my head. "But, that shrine is a ruin now... they said the miko there disappeared..." Both of our eyes widened at once as I went on, "So... that miko was you?"

Sanae nodded softly. "You're from the outside world too?" she asked, moving closer. "W-wow, I didn't think I'd meet any new faces here... when did you cross over?" She paused, glancing over me. "And... how?"

I blinked. "Yesterday, and..." I shook my head. "Yukari."

Sanae sighed a little. "Oh... I should have guessed it was her..." She shook her head. "Even for a relative newcomer like me, who came through on her own, it's not hard to know about her penchant for mischief..."

I paused. "You... came through on your own?"

Sanae nodded grimly. "There's little to no faith left in the gods in the outside world," she said quietly. "You probably know that yourself, considering what you said to Minoriko... But, I've cared for the shrine that's been in my family for centuries, so my faith was enough to let the goddesses speak to me. I had spiritual power of my own from birth, and together with a little help from Suwako-sama, we were able to move the shrine through the barrier and into Gensokyo, where they're able to gather faith and properly live once more."

I nodded quietly. "It's the reason I spent so much time trying to restore the Hakurei Shrine," I told her. "The one in the outside world, I mean."

Sanae blinked, and scratched her head a little. "Really? I wonder if that's why Yukari took an interest in you..."

I frowned a bit. "She said something about 'potential' the first night I was here... Patchouli said something about it too, earlier."

Sanae nodded. "The air in Gensokyo is full of magic..." she said. "I had power in the outside world because of my heritage ,but it's become a thousand times stronger here..." She smiled a bit. "If you're going to be in Gensokyo for a while, I'd love for you to come up to the shrine sometime..." She pointed to where a mountain was visible in the distance. "I know it's a bit of a long way, especially if you can't fly, but it's been ages since I've had a fellow newcomer to talk to..." She giggled softly. "I have to admit, I'm eager to see what new things have come out since I left..."

I blinked at the distant mountain, and nodded slowly. "I see..."

Sanae smiled. "I'm sure the goddesses would like to meet you too," she said, giggling a bit. "Not many from the village bother to come up such a long way. And you being from the outside world is intriguing too..."

"Ooh, someone from Outside? Sanae, did you bring someone else through?" A literal blur of motion shot by me and came to a stop next to Sanae, revealing an extremely eager-looking girl with a notebook and camera clutched tightly in her hands.

Sanae blinked. "Aya, I thought you were at the shrine..."

Aya grinned. "Yeah, but I've already met everyone there. I wanted to try and find someone new to interview!" She giggled. "All the guys involved in the last incident showed up here, so..."

Sanae laughed. "Oh, really? Okuu and the rest are here?" She turned to me. "Chitose, this is Aya Shameimaru, the tengu reporter. She runs one of Gensokyo's only newspapers."

Aya bowed lightly to me, still keeping that cheery grin. "Pleasure." That she was a tengu was plain from the black crow's wings rising from her back, though I noticed she lacked the long nose tengu were traditionally depicted with. Her outfit was fairly simple, a white buttoned blouse and black skirt adorned only by a long leaf-pattern scarf. She raised her camera and snapped a picture. "I'll talk with you later, okay? I wanna get an interview with Tenshi before Reimu loses her patience..."

She took off in another blur, and Sanae giggled. "That's Aya for you... always on the move." She smiled and bowed lightly. "I think I'll go and see who else came... I hope I'll see you at the shrine sometime, Chitose!" Humming softly, she moved off, and I headed for another knot of people.

Reimu was already at this group, beet-red as she stared down another girl with black wings. This one wore a green skirt instead of black, a green bow in her hair, and had a strange jewel that resembled an red eye in the very middle of her chest. "C'mon, Reimu!" she was protesting. "Just 'cause mom's not here to keep an eye on us? I told you, Koishi's around here somewhere..."

Reimu folded her arms. "It hasn't even been three months since you were causing trouble! Rin's one thing, but you can't just cause an incident and then waltz into the next festival like nothing happened!"

The girl thrust her arms in the air in frustration, and I saw with surprise that the right arm was encased in what looked like a long hexagonal tube, bright orange with a few simple designs inscribed on the side. "You're letting all the other people who caused incidents hang around, though! What's the difference? I calmed down too..."

Reimu's eyebrow twitched. "Yes, but I don't recall any of them actively attempting to wreck Gensokyo..."

The girl blanched. "I-I know, I'm sorry! Mom was so mad at me... even Koishi gave me a lecture... b-but I just let stuff go to my head, that's all! I wasn't really thinking ahead, I just knew I had a lot of power, and..." She pouted.

The girl by her side, a cat-girl in a long black dress and sporting two tails instead of one, shrugged lightly. "C'mon, Reimu," she said. "I'm here, Koishi's... around, somewhere... and Okuu's said she's sorry about a dozen times today alone." She pointed. "Besides, you're letting Tenshi roam around..."

Reimu glared at her. "Tenshi has a chaperone," she pointed out. "And she doesn't have her earthquake-causing sword with her. Where the hell's Satori, Rin? She's pretty much the only sensible one I met during that incident..."

Rin shook her head. "She didn't want to come. You know how she gets around crowds..."

Before Reimu could respond, a cute green-haired girl the size of a young child dressed in blue dashed up to us, shimmering wings fluttering anxiously behind her. "M-miss Reimu!"

Reimu blinked. "Eh? Daiyousei... what is it now?"

The fairy pointed to where a small knot of winged figures were gathering, sparks and flashes of light flying between them. "I-it's the prankster trio... and Cirno... they're at it again..."

Reimu whirled her wand and took off towards them. "Not at my festival, they're not!"

I moved closer, blinking as Okuu and Rin followed. Up closer, I could finally get a good look at the three pranksters who had sent me so far out of my way.

In the middle was a girl in a long red dress, with a white overcloth that resembled a haori and a cute white cap perched atop her cropped blonde hair. She gave a manic grin, arcing waves of lasers racing out from her. "Ha! C'mon, Cirno, the Great Fairy War shall begin once again!"

She yelped as a stream of ice crystals flew through the barrage, and rolled. "Sunny!" called the girl to her left, dressed all in white with black bows running down the middle of her dress. "You sure this is a good idea...?"

Sunny grinned and sent out another wave of lasers. "C'mon, Luna! We've gotta pay her back for last spring! Star, you with us?"

The third girl's dress was deep blue, with long white sleeves and golden star decorations along the hem, and her hair was black and flowed down almost to her feet. She frowned a little as she and Luna both began firing the same elongated grains I'd seen Patchouli use earlier to a space in front of Sunny, which began to glow and spit out flaming orbs in a simple spiral. "There's a difference between paying someone back and making an annual tradition, Sunny..." she said. "Which is it?"

Sunny giggled wildly, her own stream of closely-packed orbs now racing out. "Who cares? It's fun either way!" she called out.

The target of all this insanity was now sending a steady stream of ice towards the other three and busily flitting back and forth in between the storm of tiny fireballs, skimming past them so closely I was honestly surprised her dress didn't catch fire. She was clearly a fairy as well, but whereas the others I'd seen so far had wings of a shimmering membrane, not unlike a butterfly's or a dragonfly's, this girl had wings composed of large crystals floating in an array, three around each shoulder. Like Star, she had a blue dress with white sleeves, but hers were shorter, and the dress had a pattern of white triangles around the hem. She also wore a dark blue bow tied up in her pale blue hair.

Cirno, or so I imagined from Sunny's shout, grinned as she suddenly shifted her aim, firing up straight along the same path Luna was firing along. The white-dressed fairy didn't even see the crystals until they impacted, and with a squeak she tumbled through the air, her wings cased in ice and her dress frosted in places. Cirno's aim shifted again to follow her, and with another squeak Luna vanished in a puff of smoke. The ice-fairy rounded on the other two, grinning. "Hah! You're very confident, to come challenging the strongest in all of Gensokyo!" she called out, puffing out her chest as she put her hands on her hips.

Suika stood beside me, shading her eyes and frowning. "Gah... you'd think a three-on-one battle'd be a safe bet..." she muttered, taking another long swig from her bottle. "Oh well... still two left..."

Sunny raised her arms and grinned. "One battle doesn't win a war, Cirno! C'mon!" She launched an even bigger wave of flaming spheres, Star joining in with a tightly-packed spiral of tiny glowing stars.

Cirno dodged in among the attacks, and I saw to my surprise that she was actually closing in on the other two, despite the shots being more packed closer in. Suika smirked. "Heh... more like dumbest in all Gensokyo..." she muttered.

Cirno grinned. "Well, now... the Ice Barrier won't stop fire, but how about this? Freeze Sign: Perfect Freeze!"

Sunny stared as a wave of energy surged out from Cirno, the grass beneath the three remaining fairies frosting over as every single one of the orbs froze solid in midair. "W-wait, what the...?"

Cirno dashed forward as the frozen orbs shattered into pieces, grinning wildly. "And now for the finisher... Great Mass: Ice Crusher!"

Sunny blinked as Cirno raised what looked like a simple icicle... until ice appeared out of thin air, a heavy, shapeless mass attaching to the handle like a crude hammer. "Aw, dang..."

She didn't say anything further, mostly because Cirno chose that moment to swing the hammer down and send her flying like a line drive straight towards the trees, another puff of mist appearing as she vanished midway there.

Star looked at the grinning fairy before her, rubbed her chin, and then shook her head. "I know a losing battle when I see one..." she said, turning and flying. "Besides, this was all Sunny's idea! I just got stuck following along with it!" she protested as Cirno chased her into the trees with another spray of ice.

Cirno floated down to the grass as she returned, hands on her hips and grinning widely. "Hah! Behold, the strongest in all of Gensokyo!" She glanced around, grinning as a trio of ice crystals began to float in a circle around her. "C'mon, I feel great today! I'll take you on even if it's not winter; who wants some?"

Reimu stepped forward now, wand raised. "Cut it out, idiot, or I'll knock you into next week," she growled. "I've had it up to here with strange lights in the night and incident-causers walking around my shrine like they've got every right to be here. The festival's gotten disrupted enough; if you're gonna cause trouble, be prepared for the consequences!"

Cirno grinned, flittering her wings. "Aha! A perfect encore to my defeat of the black-white last year! Very well, red-white, prepare to bow before me!"

Reimu cocked an eyebrow. "You? Beat Marisa? Yeah, right..." She twirled her wand deftly. "You have five seconds to stop causing trouble. Then I treat you like the most minor of incidents and punish you."

Marisa was floating overhead now, and laughed. "Well, she -did- beat a bunch of watered-down spellcards I tossed at her, ze," she said. "I dunno if that really counts as beatin' me though... you'd never beat the -real- Earth-Light Ray..."

Cirno grinned up at her. "Oho, complaining about our match? Fine, I'll beat you first as a warm-up for facing the shrine maiden! Prepare yourself, black-white witch, for... Icicle Sign: Icicle Fa-"

Reimu interrupted her, swinging her wand forward. "Shut. Up. Fantasy Sign: Fantasy Seal!"

Cirno blinked, and yelped as seven orbs in the seven colors of the rainbow flew out of Reimu towards her, curving in the air and homing in on her as she tried to dodge back. "H-hey!"

Marisa winced a little bit as the orbs converged and burst into pure light, Cirno nowhere to be seen after the light faded. "Harsh, ze..." She grinned a bit. "She really is gettin' stronger though..."

Daiyousei sighed. "Well, that went predictably..." She shook her head and floated off towards the forest.

Okuu blinked. "Hey, who said you had to go?" she asked, motioning her over.

Meanwhile, I just stared at the scene. "Um... is getting blown up like that... common here?"

Rin tilted her head. "Uh... huh? What's up?"

I stared at her. "Well... I mean, she just blasted poor Cirno to kingdom come... I mean, that doesn't... affect people at all?"

I caught a flash of purple out of the corner of my eye, and when I turned, Patchouli was standing at my elbow. "She's from Outside, Rin. She wouldn't know." She smiled gently to me. "Let me put it this way... yousei don't die even if they're killed."

Rin nodded, giggling a little at my confusion. "You saw that mist stuff when the other two vanished, right? Basically, if fairies take 'fatal' damage, they just fade back into nature for a while to recover."

Patchouli nodded. "In other words," she said, "They are the embodiment of natural phenomena. You couldn't properly kill Cirno unless you were somehow able to remove every trace of ice in all of existence. So she'll be fine... being hit by Fantasy Seal might sting a little, as I've had cause to know firsthand, but she'll be back up and around in no time." She shook her head. "Anyway, I was looking for you two, actually... is Satori's sister around?"

Okuu blinked. "Koishi...? Um, she's here somewhere, but..."

With a sudden giggle, a girl appeared behind her and flung her arms around her neck. "Right here, Okuu~" she called, nuzzling against her wings happily.

Okuu blushed heavily. "O-oh, there you are, Koishi..."

Patchouli stepped forward, looking up at the girl. I could only see her face from where I stood, her wide yellow hat and silvery hair shading a pair of pale blue eyes, which twinkled curiously at the librarian as she peeked over Okuu's shoulder at her. "Has your sister mentioned me?" Patchouli asked quietly.

Koishi tilted her head for a moment. "Um... hm... Oh!" She smiled. "The vampire's friend, right?"

Patchouli nodded quietly. "If you're going to try seeing Flandre, now's the best time," she said quietly. "Koa's out on an errand, and everyone else is here, so the only ones left in the mansion are Meiling and the maids... you'll have no problems slipping past them."

Koishi giggled a little, slipping out from behind Okuu. She wore what seemed like a yellow jacket over a long green dress, and odd tendrils sprouted from her shoulders, connecting to a dark blue orb hovering over her chest. I had the odd sense that its shape resembled something closed...

Patchouli frowned a little. "Just be careful," she said. "I have hopes that you can help her, but... her mind really is warped..."

Koishi nodded a little. "She sounds fun. And cute," she said, giggling. "I'll go see..." With another giggle, she faded from sight again, and I found myself wondering if she had even been there in the first place.

Patchouli glanced at me before answering my unspoken question. "That was Koishi Komeiji," she said. "A satori who closed off her third eye and gained power over the subconscious mind in the process." She paused. "If anyone can help Flandre, it's her..."

My eyes widened. "Subconscious... so..."

Patchouli nodded. "Exactly. She may be able to suppress the more twisted parts of Flandre's mind, and keep her calm..." She sighed quietly. "Sakuya can only do so much. And frankly, I want Flandre to be able to come out of there and actually see things..." She paused, and then turned. "I'm going to go bother the book-thief and see if I can get some of my grimoires back," she said. "Don't say anything about this to Remilia, all right?"

I nodded carefully, and turned to the other two as Patchouli left. "So, um..." I bowed lightly. "I'm Chitose... Chitose Izumo..."

Rin smiled. "Rin Kaenbyou, from the underground," she said. "Though mom and most other people just call me Orin."

Okuu giggled a little. "And I'm Utsuho Reiuji... though as you've heard, I'm sure, people usually just call me Okuu..." She tilted her head. "Are you really from Outside? Wow... I usually don't even leave the underground..."

I tilted my head. "So, um... why was Reimu so mad at you earlier...?"

Rin winced, and Utsuho sighed a little. "I sorta... caused some problems for the surface last winter... I mean, stuff's calmed down now, but I guess Reimu's still mad at me over it..."

Rin sighed a little. "Yeah, well, at least nothing got torched," she said, pouting a little.

Utsuho looked at me, and scratched her head. "I guess... you wanna hear the whole story, huh?" She sighed a little bit. "Well... a while back, I was... given access to the strength of a dead god." She paused. "Essentially, another person made it possible for me to consume that god's power and make it my own..."

I blinked. "A god...?"

Rin nodded. "Dead for hundreds of years, though... well, as dead as a god can get. I dunno exactly how it works for them." She sighed. "Thing is, what Okuu consumed the power of was a yatagarasu that had been in life a sun god..."

Utsuho nodded, and held out her free arm, palm up as a small light began to glow above it. "So... I gained the power that fuels the sun," she said quietly. "That's what that rod on my right arm is for... it lets me control the nuclear reactions..." She smiled a bit as the light suddenly grew and flared. "If I didn't have it, I couldn't do this..." she whispered, as the light rose and became a blazing orange sphere hovering above us, its surface rippling with the energies contained within.

I stared upwards at it. "Is that... a star?"

Utsuho nodded. "A miniature sun... and, well..." She sighed. "I let its power go to my head." With a wave, she dismissed the orb. "I come from the underground, in the midst of the Hell of Blazing Fires... but the old fires have gone out long ago," she explained.

Rin nodded. "Well, not completely, but yeah... it used to be a place where criminals were punished, but nowadays it's pretty much just a burnt-out shell."

Utsuho nodded, fidgeting. "The being that fed the yatagarasu's power to me spoke to me, telling me about all the things this power could do... I wanted to restore the Hell of Blazing Fires to its former glory, and set the surface world that had forgotten it alight..."

Rin snickered a little. "Yeah... like she says, she got... kind of a swelled head," she said. "But I got wind of what she was up to, and let loose evil spirits through the geysers. I figured something like that'd get noticed and bring the cavalry rushing down..."

Utsuho giggled. "Which resulted in Reimu and Marisa fighting their way down and, well..." She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "They sorta... creamed me. Then Mom slapped me silly and gave me a talking-to for about, oh, three hours..."

Rin started laughing. "Yeah, oh boy... I've never seen her that mad..." She twitched an ear. "She wasn't happy with me too much either... Reimu and the witch smashed their way through her too, even though she had no idea what was going on... I didn't actually tell her about the whole geyser thing, y'see... so all she knew was that two very noisy intruders were breaking their way through the underground..."

I raised a hand. "One sec... you both keep calling someone 'mom', but it sounds like you're talking about the same person..."

Rin blinked, and then nodded. "Oh, right... well, she's not our mother by blood, but... She's Satori, Koishi's sister. We're her pets."

Utsuho giggled a little. "Yeah... we used to be just regular animals that she took in and raised," she explained. "It wasn't until years later that we became youkai..." She nodded again. "Anyway, Mom and Rin sorta set me straight... nowadays I only use my powers to run the reactor." She grinned. "And take on people foolish enough to mess with the nuclear raven of the underground, of course!"

Rin rolled her eyes. "Both of whom so far have crushed you," she pointed out, ducking a swipe from Okuu's arm. "Anyway... seems like we're both here for the same reason: to meet people and relax. Right?"

I nodded. "It seems that way, yeah... I can see dozens of people just from here that I haven't met yet..."

Utsuho smiled, holding out her left hand to me. "So, wanna hang out with us for the rest of the festival?" she asked. "I wanna meet people too, like that purple beansprout you were talking to..."

Rin laughed, and I smiled. "Sure," I said, taking her hand. "Let's see what we can see..."


	3. Second Night ~ Amid the Spreading Bamboo

The rest of the festival passed in a happy haze of springtime. Rin, Utsuho and I met dozens of humans and youkai alike, ranging from normal people from the village who had come up to enjoy the festival with everyone else, to Yuugi, an oni like Suika but with a single horn and noticeably taller and larger, to the pink-haired ghost Yuyuko who spent most of her time happily munching on whatever food she happened to be near. Eventually, Satori put in an appearance to pick up her "pets", as they both insisted on still being called. Unlike the descriptions in old stories, she was very human in appearance; in fact, she looked and dressed similar to her sister, only with a blue jacket and pink dress. Her hair was a pale pink, and the orb I had noticed on Koishi's chest was visible on Satori as well, but red and "open" to reveal a single staring eye. When I looked at it, she shied away from me, and Rin whispered that because of her power, she was generally feared.

It took some time, but I was able to strike up a conversation with her by bringing up the idea of her pets. "Animals love me," she explained, her voice so quiet I had to strain to understand her at times. "Because of my... ability... I am able to understand them where most people are not able to." She smiled a -bit fondly, giving Rin's ear a scratch. "Of course, most of them don't develop into youkai like Orin or Okuu..."

I nodded. "I see... but I mean... couldn't you just 'turn it off' around people who don't want their minds read?"

Satori glanced away. "It's not that simple," she said. "I can consciously choose not to read a person's heart too deeply, but things like surface thoughts and obvious traits are impossible for me to ignore unless I were to seal off my powers entirely, and... well, you've met my sister, I believe." She paused, glancing at Rin. "Where _is_ Koishi, anyway...? I thought she was accompanying you two..."

Utsuho fidgeted. "She talked to some purple book-girl about someone's sister and vanished..."

Satori blinked, and then smiled slightly. "Well, well... she's gone to meet Flandre, then..." She glanced at me. "Do you know what it means, for a satori to close their third eye?" she asked me quietly.

I shook my head. "Doesn't it just mean you lose your powers...?"

Satori shook her head. "It's true that Koishi can no longer read minds. But she does so by closing off her heart to outside influences... she's effectively sealed away her own heart as well as her power, and now can act unconsciously. She wanders freely now, and often I don't see her at the palace for weeks." She frowned. "I put some of my pets in her care, and it seems to have changed her a little... then she met Reimu and Marisa at the other shrine, and she told me after fighting her that she felt as if her third eye's lid had stirred, just a little..."

Rin blinked. "Wait... Koishi said that?"

Satori was smiling now, and nodded. "Yes... She told me that she'd met an interesting person, and wanted to know more about her... she even regretted not being able to read that person's heart... And now, she's going to meet someone who in a sense is her perfect complement. I wonder what will happen now..."

With that enigmatic phrase and smile, she turned and left, accompanied by the other two... and I found myself alone now at the shrine, save for Suika digging in back of the shrine for some reason and Reimu tending to the debris left over.

I moved past her, digging in my pocket as I approached the forlorn-looking donation box settled on the front steps. Here, at least, was something about the shrine that resembled its counterpart from the outside world... With a soft sigh, I drew out a handful of coins and slipped them into the slot, a series of five dull thuds echoing through the still evening air.

Reimu shot upright at the sound, and darted over, pulling off the cover and staring inside like a girl on Christmas morning. "W-wow..." she murmured, scooping up the coins and peering at them.

Suika laughed. "Heh... there ya go, Reimu. Now we can finally get someone to set up the spring!"

Reimu glared at Suika. "For the last time, we're not putting in a hot spring! Geez!" She stared down at the coins and shook her head. "Well, I guess I should have expected this from a girl who worked on the Outside's shrine..."

I blinked. "Um... it's just a donation..."

Suika snickered. "Which Reimu almost never gets," she called.

Reimu nearly popped a vein. "Stuff it, Suika! I'm not out gathering faith all the time for the shrine 'cause I'm too busy with incidents like the one you caused!"

I blinked as I saw something nestled in the corner of the box. "Hey... can I see that?" I asked, pointing.

Reimu gave me a long look of suspicion, then nodded. I dipped my hand into the box and came up with the same moss-covered coin I'd found the morning before I had arrived in Gensokyo. "This..." I murmured, and trailed off.

Reimu tilted her head. "What is it? Somebody toss a piece of wood in my box as a joke again?"

I shook my head. "No, I put this in... but I put it in the box on the other side of the Border..."

Reimu blinked, and took the coin from my hands, looking at it. She sighed. "Yukari..."

I flinched. "I met her last night."

Reimu slapped her forehead. "Of course. Let me guess, she's the reason you're here, huh?" She shook her head. "Honestly... she's not evil or anything, but I swear she's even more annoying to deal with than Remilia and Suika put together..." She sighed, looking down at the coin in her hand. "So, you put this in the donation box? While you were still Outside...?"

I nodded, and she sighed, holding the coin in her cupped hands over the box. "Well... I think it belongs there, then," she said quietly. "It fits that place better anyway..." She closed her eyes for a moment, and the coin glowed white. As she opened her eyes, the glow faded, and the coin dispersed into tiny motes of light. "There..."

I fidgeted. "... That easy, huh...?"

Reimu frowned at me for a moment, and then sighed. "Look... I really can't..."

I crossed my arms. "You're the guardian of the Great Border, aren't you? You just sent the coin back across, why not me...?"

Reimu shook her head, for once not snapping back at me. "Listen... there are a lot of reasons..." She paused. "Fine. First off, it's a lot harder to send a living being through the Border than a coin, particularly when it was designed to keep living creatures from ever leaving through it. Second, you and I both know that Yukari would just send you back here once she realized you were gone."

I winced. It was true, after all... Reimu was still speaking, and I listened. "And here's the other thing. When someone's causing trouble in Gensokyo, it falls to me and _usually_ a select few others who happen to get involved to take care of everything. I mean, Marisa's usually there too, but the simple fact is that I have a huge responsibility beyond just my miko duties. More to the point, there have been incidents following right on each others' heels lately. First that brat Tenshi levelled the shrine with an earthquake and tried to do the same to the rest of Gensokyo, then I had to deal with the terrible harvest caused by the havoc she unleashed, and _then_ I had to deal with that walking disaster Okuu just when I was finally getting the shrine back together... Not to mention all the random, day-to-day stuff, and the fact that I have the second most annoying youkai in all of Gensokyo living at my shrine whether I like it or not..."

Suika giggled. "Hey, you watch it or I won't help ya fix the shrine next time someone knocks it over!" she called, leaning on her shovel and taking another enormous swig from her gourd.

Reimu shook her head. "Anyway. All of that's left me exhausted... and, well, look for yourself." She pointed upwards.

I looked, and after a moment I saw what looked like a fuzzy smear of light. As I looked more closely, it seemed to resolve itself into a rounder shape, topped with a half-hidden hemisphere...

I shook my head in disbelief. "Is that a UFO...?"

Reimu tilted her head. "Huh... Sanae said the same thing," she said. "I still say it looks more like a floating block of wood... albeit a glowing one..." She shook her head. "Whatever they are, they've been appearing for the past few nights, and nobody can figure out what they are. They're sure as hell not natural..."

I blinked. "Come to think of it, Akyu said something about Keine being harassed last night by strange lights..." I shook my head. "You think it might be someone messing around again...?"

Reimu nodded. "Better safe than sorry," she said. "I don't want to burn out that much power sending someone back across the Hakurei Border if we're on the eve of an incident. Especially if Yukari's just going to pull them back into Gensokyo a few hours later." She paused, and snickered. "Messed with Keine, huh? She must've given 'em hell..."

I shrugged. "Akyu told me not to bother her this morning. So I imagine she wasn't very happy..."

Reimu laughed. "Hey, messing with Keine is bad at the best of times. Interrupting her on a full moon is practically a death sentence." She sighed, and glanced at me. "Anyway, there you have it... If I weren't worn from so many incidents in a row, having to deal with the preparations for the festival, _and_ having a new incident looming on the horizon, maybe I'd have the time and energy to send you back... but not as things stand." She paused. "I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to depend on Yukari if you ever want to return to Osaka. I'm not about to jeopardize Gensokyo just to undo her latest prank."

I nodded glumly. "I understand..." Leaving Reimu to count over my donation again, I headed towards the forest. Suika tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey... listen, when things calm down, you can probably try again," she said, holding out a small cup of sake to me.

I looked at it. "Too young to drink," I said quietly. "Where do you keep getting all that, anyway? I've only ever seen you with the one gourd..."

Suika giggled. "This gourd's an oni treasure, that's why," she said. "Bottomless supply, literally!" She grinned. "You sure? Being a teen's never stopped Reimu before..."

I shook my head. "The forest is hard enough to find my way through sober," I told her. "Last time I tried it alone, I ended up in the mansion of a vampire."

Suika laughed again. "Oh, so that's why you ended up coming here with Remi's gang? I was wondering..." She smiled a bit, digging again. "If there's really an incident coming up, see if you can get yourself a front-row seat. Reimu goin' all-out is a sight to see..."

I winced. "If today's display against Cirno is any indication, I don't think I want to be anywhere near her fights..."

Suika smirked a bit and leaned on her shovel. "Listen, Reimu can be kinda hot-headed, but she never hurts people that aren't causing incidents. Or at least causing problems for her. Cirno and the gang were wrecking the festival with that dumb battle of theirs..." She shrugged. "Well, I kinda hope there's one. If there is, maybe Reimu'll be distracted enough for me to put in a spring, finally..."

I smiled, just a little bit. "Well... as long as she doesn't blast me into oblivion for it, maybe I'll help out..." I grinned. "I'm not exactly unused to working with my hands, after all..."

Suika beamed. "Heh, another hard worker, huh? Just don't be too good at it, or Reimu'll be after you to help patching this place up... you'd be surprised what a beating it takes even when there's not an incident going on..."

I started towards the woods, laughing. "You tell her I'll be happy to help her fix things up..."

Suika grinned, waving as she returned to her digging. "Okay, but don't be surprised if you do more working than helping..."

Reimu's voice cut in. "I told you to stop calling me lazy, pettanko oni!"

Suika dropped her shovel and grew within seconds to about twenty feet tall. "Don't call me that again, lazy miko, unless you want your shrine kicked over again!"

I hurried away from the two before I got caught up in any further fighting, and soon found myself surrounded by trees lit by the silvery light of the waning moon. I sighed quietly as I realized I was once again alone, and began to walk. There was more than enough light to cast shadows, and I used them to judge which way was north, moving towards the human village as best as I could.

As I walked along, I kept an eye out for signs of fairies, not wanting to get lost again. Daiyousei appeared about an hour in, but only smiled and warned me that Cirno was in a dangerous mood that night, and that I should avoid the lake and the mansion at all costs. She led me carefully in a wide loop around to the east, staying mostly silent the whole way.

After a while, she bowed politely and departed, and I continued on. As I walked, I suddenly felt my foot kick something away and I ended up tripping and falling to the ground. In the moonlight, I saw to my surprise a book sitting next to my foot, and picked it up carefully. Scanning it, I found nothing but meaningless words and diagrams inscribed into the page that made my head hurt to look at them, but the runes put me in the mind of magic.

I wondered aloud if the book could be Patchouli's, but I remembered Daiyousei's warning about Cirno, and pressed on, resolving to get a guide to the mansion tomorrow and ask her about it. Shivering a little in the night air, I pressed on, clutching the heavy book to my chest.

The night grew colder around me, and I began to regret not wearing a jacket. Time turned on, and after a few times of checking my watch I knew I had gotten lost; the path back to the village had taken far less time than this to walk before. I slowly came to a stop, looking up at the moon hovering directly overhead for guidance, but finding none. Worse, as I looked back down, the trees around me began to grow fuzzy, and as I brushed dew from the hem of my kimono I realized that what was surrounding me were not trees anymore but high, thick bamboo stalks.

I shivered, racking my memory and trying to ignore the soft giggles I could now hear mixed in with the rustling of the bamboo leaves. I did recall seeing a bamboo forest, but it had been to the north of the village; I was now on the wrong side of it! Slowly, I turned, trying to work out which way was south, but with the moon directly overhead it was nearly impossible. Clutching the book a little tighter to my chest, I took a deep breath and called out. "Hello? Can anyone hear me? I'm lost... I need help!"

A rustling in the stalks behind me made me turn, and a girl with incredibly long white hair done up in a pretty bow emerged from the bamboo, turning a finger in her ear as she eyed me. "Don't have to shout... I was about ten feet away from you," she said, hands on her hips now. "So, who're you?"

I looked at her nervously. She seemed human enough, though far too young to have such pure white hair. Her clothes were a little outlandish as well, at least for what I had seen so far of Gensokyo; a pair of baggy red pants patched here and there with what looked like sealing talismans, held up by suspenders over a simple buttoned white blouse. "Um... I'm Chitose Izumo..." I said nervously.

The girl tilted her head, and held out her hand a bit stiffly. "The name's Fujiwara no Mokou... so, what brings you out at this time of... oh." She stopped in mid-sentence and glared at a spot over my head. "Suddenly the explanation seems to have presented itself..." With a snort, she flung her hand upwards, fingers curled as if scooping something up, and a large flame shot out through the air and impacted on something invisible that immediately gave off a loud squeak and a familiar puff of mist.

As I looked up, two shimmering figures appeared in midair, their appearance watery at first but soon resolving into Luna and a very panicked-looking Star. Mokou glared up at them. "So, you three idiots are at it again, huh?" Her hand flickered with flame again. "Listen, you three. Yeah, I know you can still hear me, Sunny. People get lost often enough in this place without a bunch of fairies leading them astray. Now get lost before I decide to incinerate the rest of you, got it?"

Luna seemed almost drunk, dancing and humming in the air, but Star grabbed her by the arm. "U-understood!" she called down. "S-sorry, you know what the moon does to Luna this close to full... w-we'll be going now, promise!" Tugging the now-singing Luna after her, Star flew off and vanished.

Mokou sighed, slipping her hands into her pockets. "Honestly. At least you can vent your rage on 'em without them actually dying..." She turned, and beckoned to me with one finger. "The human village is a long way from here," she said. "There's a place nearby you'll be able to rest though... I don't feel the chill so much, but I imagine you're freezing..."

I nodded, shivering now. "I w-walked here all the way from the Hakurei Shrine," I stammered out, struggling to keep my teeth from chattering.

Mokou glanced back at me, eyes wide. "Seriously? Ugh, I should've roasted all three of those dumbasses..." She shook her head. "All the more reason to get you to Eientei as soon as possible... and have Eirin check you out while you're there. She's the best doctor in Gensokyo, and luckily she lives right where we're heading..."

I nodded, scrambling to catch up as she walked briskly through the bamboo stands, the girl displaying an ease and grace as she pushed through the heavy stalks that I couldn't even come close to matching.

After the third time Mokou stopped to let me catch up, I slipped up beside her. "So... do you live here, Mokou?" I asked.

She nodded. "Sometimes, yeah. Though I come out into the village sometimes too..." She glanced at me. "I've never seen you around before, though... you a youkai?"

I shook my head quickly. "No, I'm from the outside world..."

Mokou tilted her head. "Huh. Guess you must have just got here then..." She smiled a bit. "Been meeting some pretty interesting people then, huh?"

I nodded shortly. "Yeah... lots..." I paused, and giggled a little. "Let me put it this way... the first person I saw in Gensokyo was Suika..."

Mokou slapped her forehead, and then began to laugh too. "You ran into her? Please tell me you didn't take her on in a challenge of strength..."

I rolled my eyes. "She's an oni, of course I didn't..."

Mokou grinned. "Yeah, I don't blame you. I heard her boast once she could tear down Youkai Mountain with her bare hands, and I believe her..." She was walking again, and I hurried to keep up, struggling not to drop the book in my haste. "Well," Mokou went on, "You'll meet some more interesting people here... well, they're not exactly human like you and me, but..."

I blinked. "You're human...? But..."

Mokou blinked, and then flashed a grin, still slipping easily among the stalks as she looked back at me. "But what? I can throw fire around? That's tame for people in Gensokyo... I mean, you've met Marisa and Reimu by now, I'd bet... they're both 100% human. Even more so than me..." She glanced aside. "I mean, I'm born and still am human, not like some of the magicians around here, but... well, I'm immortal. And over a thousand years old." She grinned at me again. "But that's just 'cause of the magic in Gensokyo and something I did centuries ago... I'm still a human, despite all my powers. These guys, though, well..."

We had emerged from the stalks now, and Mokou pointed out a low-set but expansive mansion built into a wide clearing in the bamboo. "There we are," she said lightly. "Eientei, the house of eternity..." She stepped to the door and knocked loudly. "Oi, Eirin... got another lost one..."

She trailed off into a growl as the door slid open. "Wh-what the hell are you doing answering the door?" She stepped back, her whole body tense as flames flickered around her shoulders.

The girl that exited was almost as heart-stoppingly beautiful as Tenshi had been in her Celesital aspect. For a moment, her face and hair reminded me of Star's, but this girl's tresses were blacker than ink and literally pooled on the ground behind her. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she shot a glare at Mokou. "Eirin's busy working up a batch of meds... she said something about something going around the human village... whaddaya want here, huh?"

Mokou's hands were blazing by now, but she managed to motion towards me. "Your little fairy look-alike and her friends decided to lead this girl astray in the bamboo. Figured you guys would be willing to put her up for the night."

The girl blinked, and then smiled a little in my direction. "Oh, sure!" She giggled softly behind her sleeve, the garment so long her hands were lost in it. She wore a pinkish top tied with ribbon and a long, wine-red skirt decorated in yellowish bamboo shoots and flowers. "Go on in... actually..." She turned to the house, raising a hand to her mouth. "Reisen! C'mere, we've got a guest!"

Mokou huffed, stuffing her hands back into her pockets and looking like she was trying to keep herself from literally exploding. "Not often I see you getting the door..."

The girl shrugged lightly, frowning as she looked at her white-haired counterpart. "I was on the back veranda having some tea and heard someone knocking... and like I said, Eirin's busy making medicine for the village. Anyway, it's not like I spend _all_ of my time in my room..." She sighed a bit. "Well, at least you're not barging in looking for a fight, phoenix-baka..."

Mokou tensed further, flames rising around her shoulders again. "Well, I certainly wasn't planning on it at first..."

The tension was rather suddenly interrupted by the sound of footsteps, and a figure appeared inside, hurrying towards the door. "M-miss Kaguya, you called?"

I'd met some beings already in Gensokyo whose existence I had never thought possible while still in the outside world, and yet this girl - Reisen, the ink-haired girl had called her - was still an enormous surprise to me. Even though I'd seen youkai with animal features before (Rin and Utsuho came to mind), to see rabbit ears on this tall, curvy girl was surprising. The only rabbits I had ever heard of in old tales were the mysterious lunar rabbit tribe, after all.

Reisen eyed me curiously as she stepped out, though she also gave Kaguya a worried look as she realized Mokou was there. "A visitor...? Did Mokou bring you here?" she asked me.

I nodded quietly, shivering again. "Y-yes... I got lost because of the fairies, and I've been walking for a long time..."

Mokou eyed the rabbit-girl quietly, still struggling to keep her anger under control. "We were maybe five minutes' walk from here," she said. "Stupid fairies made her walk clear from the Hakurei Shrine to here because of their stupid pranks... guh, maybe I should track the other two down and make 'em remember that putting humans in danger makes for a very pissed off firebird..."

Kaguya smiled pleasantly at me. "Reisen, take her in and get a fire going... I'm sure Mokou didn't think to use one, so she's probably still very cold... and maybe ask Tewi to put on some tea, mm?"

Mokou twitched. "Like I said," she growled through clenched teeth, "We were five minutes away. I didn't want to risk burning down half the forest when there was a warm home right nearby..."

Kaguya giggled, smirking lightly at Mokou. "Oh, yes, wouldn't want a repeat of last time you caused a forest fire, mm? I seem to recall Aya putting an article in the paper..."

Mokou's shoulders suddenly exploded into flame, the fire quickly taking the shape of a pair of odd wings that looked like something one would see in an Aztec carving. Kaguya blinked, turned, and yelped as she caught sight of her sleeve burning, waving it wildly in an attempt to put it out. "Shut the hell up, Kaguya!" Mokou roared, raising a hand. "I didn't come here to start a fight with you, but if you wanna start one, fucking fine by me!"

Kaguya glared up at Mokou, grabbing hold of the sleeve and tearing it an off about an inch above the flames. "All right, then!" She made a motion with her hand, and suddenly she was holding a golden branch with seven jewels set into it, a stone bowl settling into her other hand as three other shimmering objects floated around her. "Let's see, how to kill you tonight...?"

Mokou snorted, hurling fire down at Kaguya and grimacing as she floated up out of the way. "No use pondering that," she howled. "I'm the one that's gonna kill you, damnit!"

Reisen took me by the hand and hurried me inside, slamming the sliding door shut behind us. "B-best to stay far out of the way when those two fight..." she said, panting.

I stared at the closed door, the sounds of Kaguya and Mokou fighting coming indistinctly from behind it. "Uh... d-did they say 'kill'?"

Reisen shivered. "Please, just leave them be and come inside... Tei!" That last word was shouted into the candlelit halls. "Tei, we have a visitor... get the tea on, please..." She took me by the hand again and ushered me deeper into the house, to a room where a firepit set into the floor glowed softly with the embers. Reisen knelt by the pit and picked up a small bellows, tending to the fire and soon nodding as it sprang to life.

The flames gave me my first good look at her. Reisen's outfit was provocative to say the least, a dark blazer that resembled a school uniform, complete with tie, and a skirt so short she was inadvertently flashing me as she bent over the flames. As she turned, I marveled again at those soft-looking white ears, warm pink on the inside, and I noticed this time that one of them seemed bent, flopping over halfway up to make her appearance a bit cuter. Last of all I noticed her deep red eyes, and with a shiver I only half-understood I quickly looked away from them.

"So, um..." My voice was hesitant, fearing that my question might be rude. "Are you really, um... a moon rabbit?"

Reisen blinked, and nodded slowly. "Um, yes... there's not a lot else I could be, besides one of the inaba..." she said softly. "Why do you seem so surprised?"

I shook my head. "I'm from Outside," I said. It seemed to be a magic explanation for ignorance at this point. "I'm not used to meeting, well, supernatural beings..."

Reisen giggled a little. "Oh, I see... so, even forty years later, humans haven't found the Lunarians...?"

I blinked. "Er... found...? America landed on the Moon a few times, but..."

Reisen nodded. "I know. I left the Moon during that period, about forty years ago now..." She paused. "You could say I'm not really a lunar rabbit anymore, after I deserted them... but I really didn't want to fight anyone..."

I stared. "Um... there wasn't any fighting... Americans just landed on the surface and brought back some rocks..."

Reisen smiled just a little. "Mm... well, maybe they decided to just hide behind the border then... either way, when I left they were definitely considering war... and it wasn't something I really wanted to get involved in... luckily Miss Kaguya and Miss Eirin were kind enough to give me sanctuary here." She paused, cocking her good ear. "Sounds like the tea's ready... Tei should be in soon..."

From the far side of the room, a white-haired woman in a long, deep blue nightgown entered. "Udonge, what on earth's going on...?" she asked, yawning. "I heard Kaguya yelling, and now Tewi has the tea on..."

Reisen blinked, and bowed, flashing me by accident again. "M-miss Eirin... I thought you were still working on that medicine..."

Eirin shook her head. "It's finished now," she said. "At least as much as I'm going to be able to get done tonight... there's a last step or two, but I need to rest and wait first before applying it..." She glanced at the far side of the room. "Tewi, there you are... now, what's going on, you two?"

I turned to see another rabbit girl standing in the doorway, holding a tray. This one was far shorter than Reisen, and had straight brown hair and a pink dress, a charm shaped like a carrot hanging around her neck. She eyed me for a moment with a soft smirk before entering and setting down the tray she held and starting to pour out the tea. "Beats me," she said. "Reisen just called me and told me to put the tea on..."

Reisen fidgeted a little. "Mokou brought a lost traveler to us," she said, indicating me. "It's too far and late for her to reach the human village tonight, and she thought we could shelter her here..."

Eirin frowned. "And then she ran into Kaguya...?"

Reisen winced. "Yes... she answered the door. They're fighting now..." she whispered.

Eirin sighed. "Those two... honestly..." She glanced at me and frowned. "You've been walking in this dewy night?" she asked, a bit sharply. "How long?"

I blinked, shivering a little and moving closer to the warm fire. "I left from the shrine... Daiyousei directed me around the mansion, she said that Cirno was being aggressive, then I ended up getting lost because of Sunny, Luna, and Star... that's when Mokou found me..."

Eirin groaned and put a hand to her forehead. "Those three are getting to be a menace... Tewi, bring my tools, please." She moved closer to the flames and knelt before me. "Hold still, please. It's colder than Mokou might have realized out there, and with all this dew, well, you'll be lucky not to catch something..." She held out her hand to receive a tongue depressor from the shorter rabbit, and casually pulled my jaw down, leaning in to look at my throat. "Hm..."

I blinked at the sudden examination, then coughed as I felt a strange tingling sensation under my tongue, only realizing a few seconds later that Eirin's fingertips were glowing as she moved them softly. "Mm... temperature's fallen quite a bit... you are an ordinary human, right?" She glanced at me calmly but searchingly.

When I nodded, she sighed. "Right... you've got a very light case of hypothermia... wrap yourself up warm and sit by the fire. You probably won't develop any sort of infection, I don't see signs of inflammation, but all the same I'll make you something to bolster your defenses... Udonge, bring my herbs please?"

I watched as Reisen bowed and moved quickly off. "I thought her name was Reisen...? That's what the girl at the front door called her..." I asked quietly.

Eirin nodded. "Reisen Udongein Inaba. I call her Udonge for short," she said simply. "Now, just rest, understand? Your body's been through a bit more than you realize..." She nodded as yet another rabbit-eared girl emerged carrying a heavy blanket. "Perfect..." she said, taking it and draping it around my shoulders... the warmth that surrounded me was immediate, and I began to breathe more easily.

I looked up at her. "Thank you..."

Eirin laughed softly, taking a pinch of herbs from the jar Reisen had just returned with and mixing them into my tea. "Don't mention it," she said, pausing and then mixing a pinch into another cup too. "Here... have this one," she added, eyeing Tewi. " _You_ can have this one."

She handed the rabbit-girl my original cup, and she shrugged and sipped quietly at it. I took a long sip, then forced myself not to spray it all over the others as the taste of pepper stole across my tongue. I swallowed hard, wincing, and grabbed a nearby cloth as I began to sneeze heavily.

Reisen groaned and glared. "Tei! What was that for?" she demanded. "She's a guest here..." She grumbled, and at a nod from Eirin she caught the smaller girl by the arm and pulled her off.

I watched her leave, taking the fresh cup Eirin mixed for me and frowning a bit. "She seemed so interested in missions to the moon..." I murmured.

Eirin nodded. "Well, we did give her asylum here when she fled the Lunarians," she said. "It's only natural..."

I shook my head. "But the Apollo missions never found anything like a civilization, and there's been nothing but a very few probes since then... certainly nobody in the outside world has seen a lunar rabbit..."

Eirin laughed, shaking her head. "Of course not... the Watatsuki sisters maintain a barrier on the Moon's surface that hides away all traces of lunar civilization and inhabitants. Humans could map the entire surface and never find even a trace." She paused, tapping her chin. "Reisen called it something once... I think it was something like the 'border of the scientific and fantastic Moon'... well, anyway, it works like Gensokyo's border, so there you have it."

I shook my head, trying to take it all in. "So... there's an entire civilization... on the Moon? But it's hidden away behind the same sort of barrier as the Great Border...? And it's maintained by... who again?"

Eirin smiled lightly. "The Watatsuki sisters," she repeated. "They're our current leaders, now that Kaguya left."

The way she phrased that made me stare up at her. "You're... lunarian?"

Eirin blinked, and then laughed. "Oh, yes, did I not mention that? Both Kaguya and I are from the lunar civilization initially, although we're both exiles now..." She frowned just a bit.

I fidgeted, glancing towards the door again. "... She's fighting that Mokou person out there... they both said they were going to kill the other... d-doesn't that bother you?"

Eirin sighed. "Honestly, I'm tired of their little 'eternal feud', but I can't really do much. It's not like either will ever forgive the other at this point..."

I tensed. "But... i-it's not like fighting the fairies... h-how can you be so calm about her fighting to the death with someone...?"

Eirin blinked, and then slapped her forehead. "Oh, right... of course you wouldn't know... They both speak of 'killing' the other, but for either to die is no longer possible..."

I blinked, nodding as I belatedly remembered Mokou telling me she was immortal. "Who... is she?" I asked, fidgeting. "She's an... immortal?"

Eirin smiled a little. "Surely someone who can recognize a lunar rabbit knows their old stories, right?" she asked. "You've heard of the tale of the bamboo cutter, haven't you?" When I nodded, she smiled. "There you have it."

I stared, turning to look at the door again. "Wait... she's... _the_ Kaguya-hime...?" I asked, dumbfounded.

Eirin laughed softly. "Indeed..."

I shook my head. "But... didn't Kaguya-hime return to the Moon in the end...?"

Eirin's laugh faded, and she scowled. "Oh, I'd almost forgotten about that little bit of cover-up those two did..." She sighed. "That's not true at all. That story was just spread by the Lunarians to prevent their utter embarrassment at the fact that Kaguya turned them down and that a loyal councilor almost as old as the lunar civilization itself turned on her fellow ambassadors and helped her to escape."

I blinked. "You...?"

Eirin nodded quietly. "Yes. I, Eirin Yagokoro, the oldest remaining Lunarian, turned on the others who were sent with me to retrieve Kaguya and helped her to slay them all," she said, quietly and without even a hint of remorse. "Since then, we have both lived as exiles..."

I shivered. "But... so, the people of the Moon can be killed... why can't Kaguya-hime?" I asked softly.

Eirin sighed. "The same reason Mokou can't be," she said. "And the same reason I turned on the emissaries... because in the end, its very existence was due to my hand alone."

As I listened, she stared quietly into the fire. "Have you ever heard of the Hourai Elixir, child?" she asked gently.

I shook my head, belatedly realizing I hadn't introduced myself. "No... my name is Chitose Izumo, by the way..."

Eirin laughed quietly. "Chitose, is it? 'Long, blessed life'... how ironic that I'd be telling you a story like this..." She shook her head. "The Hourai Elixir... I suppose that would be where this tale starts, when I created the forbidden medicine at Kaguya's behest..." She paused. "The Hourai Elixir is the ultimate restorative draught. Perhaps you recall an elixir of immortality that was left to the emperor in the tale of the bamboo cutter?"

I nodded cautiously. "Yes... but he refused to take it... and had it thrown into Mount Fuji..."

Eirin smiled sadly. "I brewed that elixir myself... that was the remnants of the Hourai Elixir, after Kaguya had taken it herself. Did you ever wonder why she was found as a young babe, concealed inside of a great stalk of bamboo?"

I blinked. "You mean... she was put there?"

Eirin nodded gravely. "To brew the Hourai Elixir is one thing. Some of my countrymen were fond of tempting humans with it... though of course they would never really let a simple human attain such an incredible power. But for one of us to drink it is a serious crime..." She shook her head. "Despite being a princess, when the other nobles learned of her plans they called for her summary execution... only to find that she had already taken the elixir, and could not be killed."

I blinked. "So then... instead she was sent here?"

Eirin sighed lightly. "Kaguya's just about the only Lunarian besides myself with a higher opinion of humans than dog poo," she said bluntly. "They considered exile on Earth to be a great punishment... though, considering your technology was even more backwards back then, maybe it was." She smiled a bit. "Kaguya, naturally, took to life on Earth well despite it being her punishment. Eventually, the nobles elected to pardon her and end her exile... as the tale tells."

I nodded. "And so the emissaries descended, and the emperor's men could not help but lower their arms in their presence..."

Eirin laughed. "What fantasies humans come up with sometimes..." she murmured. "Kaguya knew better than to have the emperor pit his men against the armies of the Moon. She explained the situation, left the Elixir for the emperor to use as he would, in return for his kindness, and fled into the night."

I shook my head. "So then... she escaped them?"

Eirin's eyes were cold. "No. Our technology is far advanced over your motion sensors and GPS and the like. The emissaries tracked her down soon enough. Had it not been for one thing, the story's end would have been as the rest of Earth knows it."

I blinked. "What was that one thing, then...?"

Eirin's eyes fixed on mine. "I was among the emissaries," she said quietly. "When they ran Kaguya to ground, I turned on them... and together we slew them all before making our escape."

I shivered silently, and she went on. "I can see in your eyes that you do not understand why. Recall, however, that the elixir was made by my hands... I was effectively a conspirator in Kaguya's plot, and yet was not punished even mildly. And also..." She sighed. "I am one of the oldest Lunarians still living, if not the oldest. I was present when Kaguya was born, and watched her grow up, often directly under my guidance. I care about her, and when I realized that she had grown to love the Earth, I knew I did not want to take that away from her." She paused. "That feathered robe in the story... they intended to put that on her," she added, shaking her head.

I nodded slowly. "The people of the Moon... don't like us very much, do they?" I asked quietly.

Eirin shook her head. "We have existed for millenia longer than you," she said. "I myself was old before the first Pharaoh ruled in Egypt. And our civilization has gained such a height of luxury and technology... well, it is common to regard humans, many of whom cannot even use magic, as being far beneath us."

I nodded and stared into my cup. "No wonder Kaguya-hime turned down everyone..."

Eirin chuckled. "No, don't be silly... Kaguya is the exception to that rule. She spent many long years on Earth, and has come to love it... I do enjoy parts of it, though there are things about humans that I think I'll never understand."

I chuckled. "Considering I've come to a world filled with youkai, I think I understand that feeling..." I pointed out. "Now... what about Mokou?"

Eirin's grip on her cup tightened. "Yes... her..." she murmured. "Well... you mentioned Kaguya's suitors. The last one of them to ever receive the trial of Impossible Requests was named Fujiwara no Fuhito..."

The surname matched Mokou's, and I shivered a little. "I see..."

Eirin sighed softly. "Fuhito was a good man. And talented as well, despite being a noble and little else... Four times after Kaguya presented him with the trial, he returned to us with one of those mystical treasures... and four times, she simply told him of the next item."

I shook my head. "Why...?"

Eirin shrugged lightly. "Because she did not love him," she said. "No matter how devoted he might have been, would you find it reasonable to ask her to marry a man she had no love for? Those requests were her way of telling him that, but he did not understand..."

She stared into her cup now. "... The fifth time, Fuhito returned empty-handed," she said, and I was barely able to hear her soft voice now. "He told of finding the great Mount Hourai, but was unable even to set foot on its slopes... Kaguya listened to his tale, thanked him for all he had done for her... but steadfastly refused his proposal." She shook her head. "I truly never will understand humans... You're from Japan yourself, so I imagine you know how it was in those days..."

I drew the blanket a little more tightly around myself. "Seppuku?"

Eirin nodded gravely. "The very same day," she said quietly. "He refused to bear the 'shame' of being refused the hand of a common girl, and died, never knowing just how high he had tried to reach... and left behind his daughter of a previous marriage, a girl called Mokou..."

I felt my hands tense on the blanket. "The emperor's elixir..."

Eirin grit her teeth and looked aside. "Yes. As his men were taking it to be thrown into Fuji's crater, she attacked them and stole it. Not fully comprehending what it was, the foolish girl drank every drop, and awoke to find herself immortal... and fully capable of carrying out her vengeance on the girl responsible for her father's death. Such was the situation where those two immortal girls met, more than four hundred years ago."

I hid my face. "And... they've been fighting ever since?" I murmured.

Eirin nodded. "Neither can truly die... the Hourai Elixir I made was perfect. No matter how horribly either injures the other, their injuries will always heal within minutes. And so, while each speaks of 'killing' the other, Mokou can never truly take revenge for her father... and so the feud rages."

We were both silent for a time, before Tei ran in, stumbling over her own feet. "M-miss Eirin, come quick! It's Miss Kaguya!" the little rabbit yelled out.

Eirin grit her teeth and dashed off, leaving me alone with my thoughts. The story seemed so strange, and horrible... there was no denying that Kaguya had in a way killed Mokou's father, but... it was hard to blame the sweet-seeming girl who had opened the door for me for refusing to marry someone she didn't love, and who she would outlive by centuries...

My reverie shattered as Eirin came racing in, Kaguya trembling in her arms and clinging to the ancient Lunarian as she whimpered. "S-stupid bird... ugh... I hate it when I lose... slip up even a little and she just goes at you..."

Eirin laid Kaguya on another blanket, and I ducked my head at the sight of her, horrified. The girl's beautiful clothes had been blackened and outright burned away in places, her sleeves both completely gone, burn scars covering both arms and mottling her cheeks. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut and tearing up, the exiled princess shivering and whimpering as Eirin shouted for the rabbits again and began to tend to Kaguya's wounds, swearing under her breath.

Reisen knelt next to me after a while and ushered me carefully out of the room and into another, a low-ceilinged room with a pair of futons laid out in it. She had to duck as well as we entered, shaking her head apologetically. "I'm sorry... nearly all of our rooms were built for the earth rabbits, and as you can tell from seeing Tei, they're much shorter than humans..."

I nodded. "It's all right," I murmured, trying not to think of Kaguya laying in the next room over, burned so badly it seemed impossible that even Eirin's medicine could restore her.

Reisen caught the look in my eyes, and shook her head. "Listen... Mokou may be a hot-head, but she's really not such a bad person when Kaguya isn't involved..." she murmured. "She's protective first and foremost to humans, and she does have a few good friends. She doesn't even attack any of us here besides Kaguya..." She paused. "I promise you, she really is a good person, even if she has a bit of a temper..."

I nodded. "And... even though she was talking so casually about deciding how to k-kill Mokou, Kaguya-hime also seems pretty sweet and childish..." I murmured.

Reisen rolled her eyes and sat on her futon again. "There's a reason she gets along so well with Tei," she said. "Actually, I think she's the only one here that Tei's never directly pranked... well, her and Miss Eirin, but nobody besides the shrine maiden and a few others are willing to mess around with an eight thousand year-old Lunarian." She sighed. "So yeah... their feud probably won't ever end. Mokou is too stubborn, and Kaguya too full of childish spite. But Mokou's pretty decent to the rest of us. And she's always helping humans like you who wander into the forest..." She sighed. "I guess you just get used to it after fifty years or so... they're nice enough people on their own, but when they're together they can't help but fight..."

She yawned, and slipped into her futon, blinking and reaching up to move her folded ear as it covered her eye. I tilted my head. "Did you hurt it...?"

Reisen nodded a little. "Back before I met Miss Eirin. It never really healed right... but, it's fine. Everyone says it's kinda cute."

I giggled a little. "Well, it is... not that a girl with bunny ears generally needs to worry about being cute," I teased, slipping into my own carefully.

Reisen blushed, and pouted a little. "A-anyway, keep that blanket over you. Miss Eirin told me to make sure you did; otherwise you still might catch something after being out for so long..."

I nodded, smiling as Reisen slipped over to cover me, and on an impulse gently ran a finger over the soft surface of her lop-ear. The inaba blushed softly and smiled, before slipping back into her own. "Sleep well, Chitose..." I heard her murmur, but I was already fast asleep.

 


	4. Third Day ~ A Spring Morning's Lesson

By morning, I found myself sweating beneath the heavy blanket, and slowly slipped out of my futon, smiling a bit at Reisen's peaceful sleeping face. Not wanting to disturb the inaba, I drew a robe around myself and slipped out into the dark house. Nobody else seemed to be stirring, and I made my way to the front door, peeking out into the misty morning. The sun had risen, but it was far too low to peek into the heavy bamboo, and I quickly closed the door as the chilly fog blew in around me, shivering.

"Mm... Eirin's gonna get mad if you do that..." a voice came from behind me. "Stay bundled up, darnit... she's got enough people to be worrying about with the sickness going around among the humans..."

I turned to see Kaguya sitting propped against the wall, bandages wound around her head and arms, the rest of her hidden under a soft, light sheet. "Should you... really be up and around so quickly, Kaguya-hime...?" I asked hesitantly.

Kaguya giggled a little, then winced and pressed her hand to her belly. "Eirin told ya, huh...? I'm not really up and about yet... just waiting here and enjoying the forest dawn..." She shifted a little, letting the blanket fall without much of a care.

In the morning light, Kaguya was even more beautiful than my first impression of her, and I found myself blushing. Her body was covered all over in bandages, but still skin peeked through here and there. Kaguya sat up a bit straighter, and the bandages fell away from one arm; I saw to my surprise that the smooth skin was unblemished. "Your wounds... they're healed?"

Kaguya blinked, looking down at her arm. "Yeah, of course..." She tilted her head. "Eirin told you about the elixir, right?"

I nodded. "But then... what about the bandages?"

Kaguya sighed a little. "I guess she didn't explain that part... Listen, Chitose. The Hourai Elixir is a wonderful restorative, but that's all it is. It's not numbing, or warming, and it doesn't fill the belly... nor is it a pain-killer..." She saw my eyes widen, and nodded. "Pain takes a lot longer to fade than the actual injuries... same for Mokou... same for anyone else who takes the Elixir. Though since that idiot drank all of the remainder of what Eirin made for me, I doubt there's anyone else who has..."

I shivered. "So... you're still feeling the pain?"

Kaguya nodded quietly. "That's what Eirin was up to when they brought me in last night. Mokou was in a real fury, and burned me even worse than usual. It gave her a chance to try out a new painkiller, but... no real luck." She curled up a little, drawing the blanket over herself. "I can't die, not even from being burnt alive or freezing to death, but... it still hurts..."

I glanced away. "And you try to inflict that on Mokou..."

Kaguya sighed a little. "Yeah, well... that's between her and me... okay?" She shook her head. "Eirin's spent the better part of four hundred years trying to get me and her to stop, and I hear Keine's been trying the same on her end..."

I blinked. "Keine...?"

Kaguya blinked back at me. "Yeah, she and Mokou go way back," she said. "They both care a ton about humans and help out in the village a lot, after all..." She smiled a bit. "Her I don't mind so much. It's just the phoenix-baka... well... We're just never gonna forgive each other at this point, so... leave it alone, okay?" She smiled a bit. "Besides, there's lots of other stuff to talk about here... like... what've you guys been doing to my former home this time?"

Kaguya had heard about some of the Apollo missions from Reisen, who apparently had left the Moon at that time to avoid being pressed into military service should battle break out with the Earthlings, but some of the later probes and scientific observations she hadn't heard of, and listened to with interest. Eventually, Eirin came in, arms crossed and a stern look for each of us. Kaguya was ushered off to bed, and Eirin draped a shawl around my shoulders, checking me over once again. "Hm... it looks like you've avoided sickness this time around..." she murmured. "I'm going to recommend another dose of those herbs... but you should be fine to head back once the air warms up."

She pressed a cup of tea into my hands, and frowned softly. "I can see from the look on your face that you've been talking to Kaguya... I hope you won't judge her just based on her feud with Mokou." Her face grew stern. "It's a small part of her life, and one that's become almost routine to them over the past centuries... beyond that, most people will tell you that she's eccentric, but kind and childish. And... surely you, too, would harbor feelings of resentment towards someone who has put you through the pain of death by burning innumerable times over the past four hundred years?"

I quailed under her gaze, sipping my tea hastily. "I just... don't understand them..." I murmured. "But then... I still don't understand really anything about Gensokyo..."

Eirin nodded. "I still think they should stop," she said. "All I ask is that you not judge them both by this one thing they share with one another..." She watched to make sure I drank all of the tea, then nodded. "Here," she said, pressing a bundle into her hands. "Udonge got some of the inaba to weave a few kimonos for you. You'll need them, I think..." She smiled. "And should you return, I hope the memories of Gensokyo and of Eientei that they bring you will be good ones."

I blushed, nodding as I held the bundle close. "Thank you..."

Eirin laughed a little. "I had nothing to do with it. I was busy making medicine for the village all night long. Udonge is the one you should be thanking..."

I nodded, slowly rising with bundle in hand. "I should be getting back..."

Eirin nodded. "Yes... I'll have Udonge guide you back," she said, rising and vanishing.

Reisen soon appeared, holding my old clothes and smiling a bit, though she turned red as I ran a finger over her lop-ear again. "Are they really that soft?" she murmured.

I nodded. "But mostly it's to thank you," I said. "You've been taking care of me just as much as Eirin has..."

She looked at the bundle in my hands and nodded. "Miss Eirin said you wanted to head back...?"

I nodded, rubbing her ear again. "I'll come back and visit though, okay?"

Reisen beamed, sliding open the door. "I bet Miss Kaguya will be happy to hear that too..." She slipped out into the bamboo, and I followed quickly behind her, not wanting to get lost a third time.

The inaba paused halfway there, and groaned, pointing her hand like a gun off in front of us. "You three... cut it out," she said, a pulse of red energy like a glowing bullet firing out and whistling through the air.

Once again, the three fairies shimmered into appearance before us, Sunny looking noticeably scorched. Reisen glared at them. "Seriously, time to leave the newcomer alone," she said, still pointing her hand. "Chitose almost got sick last night because of your pranks..."

The three of them pouted, but as they floated forward, Reisen glared at them. Somehow I felt it, a flare of energy next to me... and in the next moment, the fairies were scattering, fleeing wildly and babbling. Reisen smiled, giving my hand a quick squeeze. "There... they won't bother us for a while. They won't be even able to find us..."

I looked at her. "Reisen, what did you do...?"

She let me look into her eyes for a moment, then broke contact and started walking again. "You were right to look away the first time you saw my red eyes," she said softly. "They hold the power to induce lunacy... and illusions, by extension." She smiled. "It gave Reimu and the others quite a time when they came to try and resolve Miss Kaguya's incident..."

The rest of the forest passed by without meeting anyone, and Reisen left me at the edge with a bow to return to her duties within Eientei. I started down the hill, struck a bit by the village in the morning light. As I looked out, I found myself thinking that it wouldn't be such a bad place to settle in, if I were unable to leave... a small, somewhat sparse village of traditional Eastern houses, with wide fields to the northwest, lit and given a soft, quaint feel by the dawning light.

Then I shook my head. Thinking about "if" I were unable to leave was unacceptable. I had to get back... I'd been in this place three days already...

As I descended into the village and came across the schoolhouse again, I found a woman at the door, wearing a long blue dress with patterns along the bottom that reminded me of a Greek column I'd seen once in a textbook. Her hair was long and white, and topped with an odd blue hat that put me in the mind of a bento lunchbox. As I approached, she turned and smiled at me. "Well now... Here's an unfamiliar face," she said softly. "Could you be the newcomer that Akyu mentioned?"

I bowed. "Yes... I'm Chitose Izumo..." I said quietly. "And are you... Keine, the teacher?"

Keine smiled. "Yes, I am," she said softly, turning the key and entering the schoolhouse, ushering me inside as well. "Akyu told me a few things about you... I imagine you have some questions, yes?"

I nodded, but before I could ask, the door pushed open and Reimu appeared. "Oi, Keine... oh, there you are," she said, blinking at me for a moment. "You got a minute?"

Keine was at the large desk at the far end of the room by now, arranging some books and scrolls on the surface. "What is it, Reimu?" she asked cordially.

Reimu frowned a little, one hand on her hip. "I heard that you were getting bugged on the full moon night by something weird... I saw some similar stuff at my shrine last night, and I've been hearing reports about it..."

Keine tilted her head. "You suspect an incident?" she asked quietly.

Reimu shrugged. "Could be... gods I hope it's not, but it could be," she grumbled. "Anyway, I wanted to find out what you'd seen..."

Keine nodded, closing one of the books quietly. "Well... honestly there's little to tell," she said. "While I was at my work, I was harassed by strange glowing lights that flitted around me and swooped past me several times."

Reimu crossed her arms. "And what did they look like...?"

Keine rubbed her chin. "... Nothing in particular, actually... At times, I thought it must be a fairy prank, and they seemed to take on the form of fairies... but when I looked closer and wondered if it might be something else, they became indistinct again."

Reimu sighed. "Oh, great..." She shook her head. "When me or Marisa sees them, they look like flying blocks of wood. Sanae said they looked like UFOs, whatever those are, and now you say they looked like either nothing or really indistinct fairies... Everyone seems to have seen the lights, but nobody can agree on what they look like, even when they're looking at them at the same time."

Keine tilted her head. "Interesting... And considering the treasure ship rumor going around as well..."

Reimu blinked. "Treasure ship? What, that phantom that Marisa and Suika were chatting about yesterday?"

Keine nodded. "Yes. It's a bit more substantial than your average rumor... there may be some truth behind it..."

Reimu groaned, turning on her heel. "Great. Another possible incident that I have to go out and investigate... what's this one, four in a single year?" She twirled her staff lightly. "Well... I guess I'll go collect Marisa and take a look..."

Keine smiled lightly. "You shouldn't get so..."

Reimu cut her off. "I get enough lectures from the damn Yama, Keine, don't you start on me too." She stepped outside and took off flying.

Keine sighed. "Let's go outside too, Chitose," she said. "It's a bit dusty in here after my absence for a few days..."

Outside, she looked at me and smiled lightly. "So, then... what have you come into my classroom hoping to learn?" she asked.

I shook my head. "There's just so much I don't understand about Gensokyo... or why I'm here... why Yukari thinks I should be here..."

Keine smiled and shook her head. "Yukari does as she pleases for whatever reasons she finds most amusing," she said simply. "As to why you in particular, well... I would need to know more about you for that."

I nodded. "She said something about wanting to see how my 'potential' develops..."

Keine chuckled. "Ah, I see... Chitose, do you have any special talents? Things that come naturally to you... so naturally it almost seems like you shouldn't be able to do it that easily?"

I blinked. "Well... I build things a lot..." I said hesitantly. "I managed to work out from the directions how to make a little radio when I was little... I was thinking about being an engineer... but isn't that just natural talent?"

Keine smiled a little. "The air of Gensokyo is thick with magic," she said. "Indeed, you could almost consider it a realm made of magic... there are so many youkai and other beings here that their power bleeds into the land around them." She paused. "As such, people from Outside often develop rather unusual talents that were dormant or incredibly weak before they came here."

I blinked. "Um... I don't follow..."

Keine smiled. "Take Sanae, for example," she said. "She came here from Outside perhaps eighteen months ago. When she first arrived, she had little power and brown hair. As a miko Outside, she had some spiritual power, and a power over miracles that runs in her family line, but here, her hair turned green simply from the presence of such abundant magic, and her powers blossomed to the point where she was able to go toe-to-toe with Reimu and the others..." She smiled. "Have you had any indication of powers of your own?"

I was about to say no, when I remembered Patchouli's words to me yesterday... and what I had felt with Reisen that morning. "Well... I didn't think so at first, but..."

Keine smiled. "Tell me?"

I paused, thinking back. "Patchouli... used some sort of spell on me. She said... she said it told her... that I had some form of potential to use magic..."

Keine laughed. "Another human magician, then?"

I blinked. "I guess... but why did you specify 'human'?"

Keine smiled. "Oh, magician can mean a type of vocation a human can have, like Marisa, or it can indicate a kind of youkai born with the power to use magic, like Patchouli." She grinned at the look on my face. "Yes, Patchouli Knowledge is a youkai. In any case..."

I nodded. "And this morning... Reisen used some sort of power on the fairies, and I could... feel her using it, somehow."

Keine nodded. "Sensitivity to magic is the first sign of growing powers," she said. "Patchouli seems to be right... you had the potential even before coming here to use magic, and now you're starting to develop the powers of a magician."

I blinked. "That... can't be right..."

Keine smiled. "As I said, many newcomers develop such powers. It has been that way ever since the Hakurei Border was made." She tilted her head at me. "If you've made a friendship with Patchouli, I'm sure she'll be willing to help you as your powers start to grow."

I paused. "Speaking of magicians... Patchouli and Marisa had some sort of... strange fight yesterday... with signs..."

Keine lit up. "Signs... you mean spell-cards," she said.

I blinked. "Spell cards...?"

Keine chuckled a little. "The danmaku art is a little tricky to explain... hmm... how to put it..." She broke off and waved. "A demonstration would be best... Hello, Alice!"

The last two words were directed to a young blonde-haired girl heading along the road towards us, a familiar small figure floating at her shoulder. She was dressed in blue and white, a shawled dress adorning her along with a cute red band in her hair. "Who...? Oh, hello, Keine," she called quietly back.

Keine smiled as the girl approached, and I saw she was carrying a wicker basket on one arm. "Come for some more supplies?" she asked, motioning to the basket. I could see from where I was that the basket was filled with yarn and bolts of cloth, as well as a few shiny tools.

Alice nodded lightly. "I had an idea for another one," she said in that same quiet tone, adjusting the bolts gently. At her shoulder fluttered a small winged being that I took to be a fairy, though it looked surprisingly like Alice, down to the exact same hairstyle and red ribbon. The smaller Alice was dressed in a maid's outfit, however, and was totally silent, just hovering and smiling a bit.

Keine smiled lightly. "Chitose, this is Alice Margatroid, a magician and doll-maker," she said. "Alice, this is Chitose Izumo. She's a girl from Outside who was spirited away..."

Alice curtsied lightly to me. "Good morning..." She blinked a little as the fairy on her shoulder flitted over to me and tilted her head. "Keine, how come you didn't introduce me?" she whined playfully, poking my nose gently.

Keine laughed. "And that would be... Shanghai, right?" she asked, glancing at Alice for confirmation.

Alice nodded, making a motion with her fingers that caused Shanghai to flit back into her hand. "Shanghai, don't be rude," she scolded softly.

Shanghai pouted a little, but nodded, looking up at me. "Okay, Mommy..."

Alice frowned just a little. "Shanghai is one of the dolls I've made," she said quietly.

I couldn't help but stare at the little winged doll, peering in closely. "She's... a doll?" I asked, tilting my head. "But... she's so well-made..."

Alice smiled lightly. "Thank you..." She patted Shanghai's hair gently, letting the doll flit free of her hand again and blinking as she settled onto my shoulder.

I looked at her. "How can she... move?" I asked.

Alice glanced away. "Someday, I hope, the answer to that will simply be that she's alive," she said quietly. "For now, however, I'm afraid that she moves because I am feeding mana into her through invisible strings... I have been called the 'seven-colored puppeteer' before, and I hope that explains why."

Shanghai smiled a bit. "But Mommy's working on it. I'll be a real living, independent doll soon, you'll see!"

Alice looked at Keine. "In any case... Did you have something you wanted to ask me?"

Keine nodded lightly. "Chitose was curious about spell cards, and danmaku... apparently she saw Marisa and Patchouli dueling yesterday."

Alice slapped her forehead. "Please tell me she wasn't trying to steal books again..." she moaned.

Keine shrugged. "In any case, I was hoping you'd do me the pleasure of a match... demonstrations are best for this sort of thing..."

Shanghai flittered back to Alice's shoulder, pouting. "Do we have to fight, Mommy?"

Alice withdrew a heavy book from her basket, wrapped in red cloth and securely locked. "Just to show some of our cards," she said softly. "We don't have to try and hurt each other..."

Keine smiled, taking off her hat and withdrawing a few slips of paper from inside. "Are you ready, Alice?" she asked.

Alice hefted her book, and it struck me suddenly as being very similar to the one I had found, which I still was holding wrapped in my satchel. "Just a moment..." She closed her eyes, and muttered an incantation to herself. After a moment, two small magic circles appeared in midair at either side of her and spun. "Holland, London, come here please," she said softly, and the magic circles suddenly shone far brighter, two small humanoid shapes taking form atop them. When the bright light faded, two new dolls stood at Alice's side, one dressed in green with a shock of startlingly red hair and the other dressed in a long tweed dress, peeking out with bright blue eyes from under a white mob cap and a head of inky black hair.

Keine tilted her head. "Three cards, then?"

Alice nodded. "Unless you'd prefer a longer match," she said coolly, the tweed doll raising to hover in front of her hand. "Ready?"

Keine nodded. "Not much sense in using non-spells... this is only a demonstration match, after all." She began to float off of the ground, dress ruffling slightly as she held up one of the slips. "I'll start off with this one... Ambition Sign: Masakado Crisis!"

Alice took to the air and floated quickly back, watching for a moment as Keine was suddenly surrounded by three clusters of light. Just as my eyes resolved the clusters- two triangles of smaller light orbs at her shoulders and one square floating just before her- the lights suddenly erupted into a stream of blue energy, taking the form of grains much like the ones Patchouli had used the day before. As they began to flow outwards from Keine, the orbs began to spin, and the straight lines suddenly turned into long, sweeping spirals that reminded me of the pattern of a sprinkler... albeit one spraying out spirals of blue energy grains rather than droplets of water.

Alice raised what looked like a torn book page. "I remember this one," she said quietly. "You won't stop me with an old spell like that... Here's mine. Darkness Sign: Foggy London Dolls!"

The doll at her hand, London, I supposed, lifted away from her with a cheerful curtsy. "Right away, Mum!" she called, suddenly starting to glow. As I watched, seven new dolls split off from her, each a perfect copy of the original, and formed a broad circle around Alice. The girl herself was moving her fingers in a frenzy, and I wondered if she was somehow controlling all seven at once. The original had floated back to her shoulder and sat there motionless now, but her copies were now spinning as Alice moved to slide through the gaps in Keine's attack, and suddenly they began to release attacks of their own. At first, the dolls spiraled in close to Alice, leaving green grains in their wake that spun in and then rushed back outwards with the dolls. Then, I was barely able to see as they began to spin even as they orbited, and launched yellow shots in every direction, Keine forced to whirl and dart right and left to evade the random-seeming bursts.

Keine smiled, her own attack still in full force, though it remained stationary when she moved. "I've heard about this one before," she said, dodging through a gap between green and yellow just before it closed completely. "Dolls from the great city of fog, London... Marisa mentioned this card once."

Alice sighed lightly, her dolls now revolving close in around her and releasing tightly-packed spirals that wove together in the air; seeing them from below, the shape took on the elegance of woven lace. "I should have guessed... maybe asking her to help in my researches is a poor idea..."

Keine laughed, rolling and sliding in among the spirals, moving through gaps so small it seemed impossible she wouldn't be hit. "Don't be silly..."

Her words broke off as the dolls began to spin and fire in all directions again, and Keine found herself skating too close to a shot that went straight through her, her own orbs and grains suddenly bursting and scattering into sparks. Alice waved a hand, and her dolls stopped firing, the copies vanishing and the original London flitting about happily. "Well, that was a lovely bit of flying, if I do say so myself," the doll chirped.

Alice shook her head, motioning the red-haired doll over. "It's not over yet... Keine asked for three cards. Holland, you're up."

I stared up at them. "Wait a second... you're going to keep on fighting? Even after Keine was hurt like that? I mean... that must've gone right through her heart..."

Shanghai floated over to me, giggling in my ear. "Is that what you were worried about? Don't be silly... danmaku doesn't kill. That's the whole point of it!"

I blinked. "Wha...? Well... I guess that explains why a laser the size of a bullet train didn't seem to do much beyond knock Patchouli flying..."

Shanghai rolled her eyes. "Oh, Marisa... she's so silly..."

Keine chuckled a little as she raised another slip. "Well, you've certainly improved since that little tussle we had during the endless night... let's try this spell, then. Land Sign: Three Treasures ~ Orb!"

As groups of magic circles began to flow out from Keine in a sweeping curve, Holland rose to Alice's hand and began to glow again, copies appearing in a rough line off to each side of the puppeteer. "Scarlet Sign: Red-haired Dutch Dolls!" she countered, holding Holland in her hand now as she began to move.

Keine's magic circles began to fire as they swept outwards, creating what seemed an impenetrable field of those rice-grains that seemed to make up the normal bulk of danmaku before the field resolved into wide, curving columns that Alice was quick to dodge through. Her own dolls remained stationary, a few bursting as Keine's shots hit them, and began to fire out clusters of shots of their own, each firing streams of shots in seven different directions that slowly spread to weave a pattern around Keine, the teacher on the move quickly as well, seeking out "safe spots" where the somewhat linear pattern did not reach.

I squeaked and ducked as Keine suddenly released a trio of what looked like massive, scarlet-tinged bubbles that zoomed almost directly overhead, Alice diving through the holes in one column to skim carefully past the center one. Shanghai giggled a little. "Maybe we should back up. Mommy doesn't like being distracted while fighting..."

And yet, I noted as I looked at her, she was sparing enough concentration to manipulate the doll on my shoulder even as she fought. I moved to the door of the schoolhouse, standing in the relative shelter and watching the battle. Keine was now alternating between those curving magic circles and the trios of scarlet bubbles, while Alice was creating more and more copies of Holland to attack as the old ones faded out or were destroyed by Keine's attack. "Just what are all of those...?" I murmured.

Shanghai giggled a little. "Danmaku," she said. "A magic art more basic than flying... every single one of those little lights is basically crystallized magic..."

I nodded, gazing up. "And... they can't harm?"

Shanghai giggled again. "They sting a little, sure, but they can't kill. That's the whole reason Reimu made this system, after all..."

I blinked. "System...?"

Before Shanghai could answer, or I could even finish my question, Alice skimmed too close to a bubble, and her dolls burst, Holland pouting as the dollmaker righted herself in midair and frowned, before releasing the red-haired doll to float over near London.

Shanghai giggled and patted my cheek. "That's my cue..." she said as she floated up and settled on Alice's shoulder.

Keine smiled. "Shall we show her a bit more of an elegant duel?" she offered, raising a pure-white slip. "Danmaku is more than just spraying bullets everywhere..."

Alice sniffed lightly. "Indeed..."

Keine grinned a bit. "Our strongest spells, then...?"

Alice raised an eyebrow. "I think not," she said, laying a hand on Shanghai gently. "There's no point in using a technique that will win almost instantly." She paused. "That's _Marisa's_ style..." she muttered, almost bitterly.

Keine laughed softly. "Well, nobody is about to accuse you of fighting the same way as her," she noted, raising her card. "Still, this _is_ an exhibition match. Even if you won't go all-out, I have a spell of my own..." She grinned as the card shone white. "Future: Takamagahara!"

Alice's eyes widened. "Y-you're bringing out a final spell on a simple demonstration match?" She frowned, holding Shanghai a little tightly. "Curse Sign: Eerily Luminous Shanghai Dolls!" she called.

The display that followed left me breathless. Keine had drawn out the same orbs that had spun around her during her first attack, but they were moving much more slowly now, almost like the thin hand of a watch. And as I watched, the orbs began to release not orbs, but lasers, lancing out in straight, stable lines at regular intervals, a strobing pattern of deadly light. The danmaku itself came from Keine, the therianthrope now releasing wide rings of thin red needles, the center shot of each subtly aimed at Alice but spreading out in all directions like a great halo. Takamagahara, also called the Celestial Plain, the fabled realm of the gods... it was certainly beautiful enough to pass as such.

Alice, for her part, had released four duplicate dolls, Shanghai herself perched on her shoulder and smiling. As she wove between the rings, eyes fixed on Keine and keeping her cool even when the "ticking" lasers forced her to hold almost motionless, the dolls began to spin around her and released a wave each of tightly packed yellow arrowheads, which slid in towards Alice, before whirling wildly around her and rushing back out in a great pinwheel. More sparse but widespread waves of orange followed, the dolls alternating between orange and yellow to create a great weave of spirals and pinwheels, the colors perfect... and as Keine seemed to get the pattern down, Alice began to release bubbles like Keine had in her second spell, but tinged deep blue and eight at a time, also spinning in and out towards her foe.

As the two patterns interwove in the air, I could see Alice and Keine moving slowly and carefully around each other's magic, though the copy-Shanghais and the spinning orbs remained where they were. The two wove and spun through the flying colors around them with grace and ease, until at last Keine drifted a hair too far to one side and found herself boxed in by a flurry of orange and yellow, and with a bright flash she flew back, her pattern disintegrating as she landed and put a hand to her chest, panting. "Mm... as sharp as ever," she said, smiling up at Alice.

Alice nodded lightly, Shanghai giggling and dancing a bit as her own pattern scattered and the dollmaker landed gently on the ground. "Well, it's been a while since I've done much fighting," she said.

Keine nodded. "Why not go with Marisa again on the next incident?" she suggested. "You two were certainly quite the team back then..."

Alice frowned. "I did help out during Utsuho's rampage," she said softly. "If you're talking about those strange lights, and the treasure-ship rumors, I don't see that they're much to be concerned about. And it isn't like Marisa really needs my help on such a superficial incident..." She turned to me, cocking her head. "In any case... Chitose, was it? I hope that was instructive..."

Keine nodded, smiling a bit. "A demonstration is always helpful to explanations," she said.

I nodded slowly. "I don't understand how neither of you were hurt..."

Keine chuckled. "Oh, it definitely stings," she said lightly. "But danmaku doesn't do much in the way of physical damage, apart from the occasional scrape or ripped clothing."

I paused. "So what exactly is danmaku, then...? The 'signs' you two were using? The lights? The art itself?"

Keine nodded. "Well, the bullets we were firing out certainly are considered danmaku," she said. "Although the art of fighting with them is also often referred to as the magical martial art of danmaku."

Alice paused. "By 'signs', I assume you were referring to our spell cards?"

I nodded. "I guess... those attack names you were calling out, and the patterns they made... They all get called 'sign' though... Wood Sign, Love Sign, Curse Sign..."

Alice winced just a little. "Hm... so you've seen Marisa fighting, then..." She sighed. "Honestly, sometimes I think nobody ever bothered to tell her that danmaku is supposed to be an art..."

Keine laughed. "Marisa has fallen under the impression that 'danmaku is power'," she said lightly. "She's very fond of using lasers in her attacks... though it's not fair to say that all her techniques attempt to simply overwhelm with raw force."

I nodded. "So, that Master Spark move she used... that's a spell card as well?"

Keine nodded. "When she was younger, and things a bit less friendly than they are now, Reimu codified a system designed to allow humans and youkai to battle one another without leaving a pile of bodies everywhere they went." She glanced at Alice. "Come to think of it..."

Alice grimaced and looked away. "Yes. It was shortly after the Makai Incident... and I wouldn't be surprised to find that was the one that inspired her to implement it."

Keine paused. "Think of it this way," she said. "If Reimu dies, the Hakurei Border would be shattered, and Gensokyo would no longer be hidden away. It would likely spell the end for youkai, although it would be a bloody battle indeed against some of them."

Alice nodded, lifting another torn page and holding it out to me. "Thus, Reimu wrote up a contract of sorts, which she simply called the 'spell card rules'." The page I was handed was covered in diagrams and scrawls in a language that made my head hurt to look at it. The only words I could make out were at the very top, simply reading "Maiden's Bunraku". Alice continued. "Rather than their usual powers, youkai and humans alike were to use the danmaku art in combat. In addition, their attacks were to be codified on these slips, known as spell cards."

Keine nodded. "To put it simply, each person capable of using danmaku has a number of spell cards, each one representing a different attack pattern. What that pattern is varies widely, from Cirno's 'Icicle Fall', to Patchouli's 'Agni Shine', to the more powerful ones like Alice's 'Phantom of the Great Guignol' or Reimu's strongest card, 'Fantasy Heaven'."

London and Holland had floated back over to us at this point, and London spoke up now. "In battle, you can use each card once, and if you run out, the magic of the cards saps your energy down to almost zero."

Holland smirked. "Unless you're a fairy, that is. They just explode. Poof..."

Keine nodded, chuckling a bit. "Hence my being so winded at the moment... Alice defeated me handily, so I lost most of my power for the time being."

Alice nodded. "It's a bit of an odd system, but as nobody wants to kill Reimu, and the two sides are growing closer anyway, it's a good thing to have around, especially when incidents happen." She shuddered a little. "Gensokyo would certainly be a lot less populous if we didn't have them..." she murmured, gripping her arm slightly.

Keine nodded. "And, as I can see you're wondering why we would fight outside of incidents, or at all, let me simply say that power unused wanes and eventually disappears." She paused. "And, while it is the Hakurei line that maintains it... it is also through the power of a youkai that the Great Border can exist at all. Were the youkai's power to disappear, Gensokyo would vanish, Reimu or no Reimu."

I nodded, shivering a little. "So really, these friendly battles and incidents are necessary for Gensokyo to continue existing...?"

Keine nodded. "Indeed... though it helps that Reimu is powerful enough to kill or seal away youkai that might try to ignore the spell card system," she said. "It's in part out of their own self-preservation that powerful and dangerous youkai like Yuuka or Remilia also follow those rules... though Yuuka is a bit of an exception, really."

Alice winced. "Her... ugh."

Shanghai settled on my shoulder, shivering a bit. "Yuuka was one of the ones who quelled the Makai incident," she said quietly. "And Mommy fought against all of the people that were involved in it at one point..."

I nodded, wondering why exactly Alice was saying this to me through her doll... but the 'personality' Alice seemed to have constructed for each doll was different from the dollmaker's own, and each other's, and I supposed this was just another example of Shanghai being more 'open'. I ran a finger through the doll's hair gently. "Is she that scary?"

Shanghai trembled and nodded quickly. "And strong... Reimu keeps saying she beat Yuuka, and Marisa does too, but I dunno if Mommy believes her..."

A blonde girl in a deep plum-colored dress, about Cirno's height, came up behind Alice and tugged silently on her arm. The dollmaker blinked and turned. "Medicine...? What is it?"

Medicine pouted and tugged again, remaining silent. I could see what looked like a doll laying atop her head, though it matched Medicine's appearance exactly. Shanghai whispered in my ear, "That's Medicine. She's a doll that became a youkai because she was lost for a hundred years..."

My eyes widened as I realized the little girl was in fact a tsukumogami. "Hello, Medicine... my name is Chitose..." I offered.

Medicine shot me a glare and then hid behind Alice. Shanghai winced. "Medicine doesn't like humans..." she said softly. "Be careful... she can create any kind of poison, though luckily Alice convinced her not to hurt people 'cause then Reimu would probably do something awful to her..."

I nodded, shivering. "Poison...?"

Alice spoke this time. "Medicine was lost in a field of lily-of-the-valley over a hundred years ago," she said quietly. "I met her after the flower incident a few years back, after she'd already become a tsukumogami..." She knelt and gently picked the girl up. "She's been helping me a little with my researches... she's still very shy even around Marisa, though..."

She blinked as Medicine suddenly tugged her sleeve. "Oh... is Marisa looking for me?" she asked, tilting her head. "I'd better go, then..."

Keine chuckled. "If she wants to bring you along for the incident, I'd go," she teased.

Alice showed the slightest hint of a blush. "That's none of your business," she said softly. "Medicine, go on ahead and tell her I'll be home soon..."

Medicine flew off, and Alice approached me, gently taking Shanghai back into her arms and brushing her hair gently, the doll giggling a bit and settling in. "I've been meaning to ask you something, though," she said, tapping the grimoire gently. "You said you were a newcomer, right...? Why do you have a grimoire? I didn't think magic existed to any real degree Outside..."

I blinked, and slowly held it out to her. "I found it in the Forest last night," I explained. "I figured it belonged to Patchouli, but I haven't had a chance to return it... Daiyousei told me that Cirno was on a rampage, so..."

Alice shook her head lightly. "That idiot fairy... sometimes I think we should just tie her up and make her attend Keine's class... or just let Ran tutor her..."

Keine laughed. "You think Ran would make a better teacher than me?" she teased gently. "I've tried a few times, but the only fairy that ever listens to me at all is Daiyousei."

Alice took the grimoire gently, and opened the cover, chanting softly. The book glowed, and in silvery ink I saw a strange sigil etched in flowing characters. She nodded. "It's from Voile," she said quietly. "Marisa must have taken it..." She paused. "Where did you say you found it?"

I blinked. "On the northern side of Remilia's mansion," I replied.

Alice groaned. "Definitely Marisa's work... she was probably on her way to show me and dropped it..." She sighed. "I keep trying to convince her to stop 'borrowing' Patchouli's books, but I could almost swear that bookworm likes having her around..."

Keine chuckled lightly. "Well, sometimes I imagine that house gets a bit monotonous... even something like a burglary would at least excite."

Alice shook her head, flipping a few pages and raising an eyebrow. "These pages... hm... These are fire spells, but they seem a lot older than the ones Patchouli normally uses."

Keine leaned in, then shook her head. "She's too powerful for me to read them," she said quietly.

Alice nodded. "In your human form, I imagine they would be," she said. "In any case... hm..." She cast a few more spells, magic circles flickering to life on the pages and covers and then dying out. Then she handed it back to me. "Hold onto it for a little while," she said quietly. "I think there are a few surprises around this book that you may wish to discover for yourself..." She paused. "Not to mention, it would be good for a fledgling magician to have a grimoire anyway, and this is not even half-full..."

I blinked. "But... it's Patchouli's... isn't it?"

Alice smiled a little. "I'm not saying to keep it forever, just that she won't miss it if it stays missing for a little while longer," she said quietly. "In any case, I need to go see what Marisa wants... before she gets bored and wrecks something again..." With a sigh, she rose into the air and flew off, her three dolls following closely behind her.

Keine smiled softly. "So, where do you plan to go next?" she asked.

I blinked, and looked off towards the north. "Well... Sanae wanted me to try and visit her at some point..."

Keine chuckled. "Ah, right... she would definitely want to have some time to talk with someone new from Outside..."

I glanced back at her. "Alice said that Medicine hates humans... so why does she hang around with her? Is she a youkai?"

Keine blinked, and smiled. "Well, she is now..." she said. "As Marisa probably will be at some point in the coming years." Seeing my confusion, she smiled. "There is a spell that a sufficiently powerful human magician can study and cast. With this spell, known as 'shashoku', a human can transform themselves into a youkai magician."

I blinked. "So... humans can become youkai...?"

Keine nodded. "Yes... I imagine that's also a source of the tension between Marisa and her father," she said. "There are definitely signs that she's considering studying shashoku herself..."

I blinked. "Why would she do something like that...?"

Keine laughed. "Wouldn't you seek a way to prolong your life, if all your dearest friends were likely to outlive you? Alice, Nitori, Patchouli, Flandre, they're all youkai and either ageless or bound to live hundreds of years. And, well... " She paused. "Honestly, I expect Reimu to try and become a celestial, as well. She doesn't really seem likely to settle down and have a daughter to become the sixth Hakurei maiden, after all... and Marisa certainly wouldn't want to outlive her best friend."

I nodded a little. "I see..."

Keine nodded. "In any case, if you're planning on going to Youkai Mountain, it would be best to pack a few days' worth of supplies. It's quite a distance if you don't know how to fly yet..." She smiled. "The youkai on the mountain have been friendly for a while, though, and especially if you tell them you're a friend of Sanae. They all adore the 'good girl'..."

I nodded, hefting the grimoire a little. "I should let you get back to your duties..." I said. Indeed, there were quite a few people in front of the schoolhouse now.

Keine nodded lightly. "Come back if you ever want to take any classes, though," she said. "And if you do end up developing a bit of magic of your own, I'd be happy to help you with some of the basics. Just as long as you don't bother me during the full moon..."

I nodded. "I wouldn't dare... I'm told that being head-butted by someone with horns often offends..."

Keine laughed, shaking her head. "Ah, Akyu... she's always got such a silly sense of humor..." She smiled and bowed lightly. "I hope to see you again, Chitose..." She turned and entered the classroom, and I could hear the sounds of her starting to teach as I turned and headed into the village again.


	5. Third Night ~ The Fragrance of Sunflowers

 It was tending on towards the afternoon when I was finally ready, a sturdy (but not too heavy) backpack settled on my back with a light sleeping roll tied to the top. I knew no matter what I did I wouldn't be able to reach the mountain in a single day, so I resolved to simply hide myself as best as I could at night and rest in the seemingly endless green fields between here and there.

As I headed towards the outskirts of town, however, I found not all the fields were green. I had come across the fields where the people of the village grew their food every year, and while they had been for the most part plowed, the seeds naturally had not sprouted, leaving the brown, rich loam exposed for acres around. I made sure to keep to the green margins between the fields, waving as now and again I came across someone working in the fields.

A flash of autumn colors caught my eye, and I turned to see the goddess siblings from before waving at me, both smiling, Shizuha leaning on a hoe while Minoriko carried a bag of seeds with her. "We meet again," Shizuha said, giggling a bit.

I tilted my head, coming to a stop. "Shizuha-sama, Minoriko-sama... what're you two doing here?"

Minoriko smiled a bit, scattering a few seeds in her sister's wake. "Helping," the harvest goddess said simply, looking out over the fields.

Shizuha nodded, turning and starting to turn over the soil again. "Who says a harvest goddess has to help out only at the very end, ne?"

I chuckled a little, nodding. "Is this a new thing for you two...?"

Minoriko smiled. "Yes... well, considering how, well, fair-weather the faith I gained last year was, I was hoping to establish myself some more permanent followers for myself and my sister..." She paused. "Although, I do want to reward those who remembered me and prayed to me then as well..."

Shizuha nodded, chuckling. "Even if fair weather is best for crops," she pointed out, digging into the ground eagerly. "Anyway, we figure if they see us two goddesses helping out with the planting in the spring, and we keep stopping by every now and then, they'll remember us and start being thankful... y'know?"

I nodded, smiling a little. "That's a better way anyway," I said softly. "Faith people give just because they need something right away isn't going to help."

Minoriko smiled pleasantly, bending to gently work the seeds into the soil. "Exactly. How are we supposed to have enough power to grant miracles otherwise?"

Shizuha rolled her eyes. "Not that there's much faith to give to turning leaves," she pointed out with a chuckle. "But, sis thinks that if I'm helping out, then people will be grateful to me in general."

I giggled a little. "Shizuha-sama, autumn leaves are lovely. I'm sure if you're visible enough, people will come to recognize that..." I hefted my grimoire a little bit. "So, where is your shrine...? I was heading towards the mountain; I could certainly spare some time for the two of you on the way..."

Minoriko lit up. "R-really?" She paused. "I'm not sure exactly how to explain where it is, but there's a little shrine near the base of the mountain, in a forest clearing... one of the tengu should be able to guide you to where it is..."

Shizuha nodded. "Heading up to visit Sanae, huh?" She chuckled a little. "Careful around the tengu, some of them are really territorial... I mean, they're the sworn guards of the mountain, so it makes sense, but..."

Minoriko nodded. "Just be honest if one of them confronts you," she said. "The worst that can happen is that they'll send you back down while they send someone to ask Sanae if it's true." She nudged her sister. "We should get back to work, though..."

I smiled. "I won't keep you longer," I said. "Besides, I should get going before it gets too late in the day..." I hefted my bag carefully and started off towards the edge of the fields.

As I reached the edge and glanced back, waving in return to the two goddesses, I noticed for a moment a flash of bright yellow among the green off to the south. I peered towards it, but could only get the vague impression of flashes.

I glanced back to the looming form of the mountain behind me to the north, then back to the mysterious yellow. It was out of my way, of course, but I had no real time limit on making it to see Sanae, and truth be told the more I stayed in Gensokyo, the more I wanted to explore and see every corner of the strange land I had been pulled into. I settled the grimoire under my arm and headed south.

As I walked, the yellow seemed to disappear, but something seemed to draw me onward. As the sun began to sink towards the horizon, I finally topped a small rise and caught my breath at the sight revealed. Stretching out around me on all sides was a field of gorgeous sunflowers, each taller than the average human. The stalks seemed almost as dense as a jungle, but I heard noises from within, soft giggles and flutterings, and I moved closer, reasoning that if fairies were able to be about safely, surely the place was not properly dangerous.

Then I remembered that fairies, being able to return even if they die, would have no reason to take heed of whether a place was dangerous or not, and I came to a halt at the verge of the flowers, looking up into one of the massive blossoms.

"Oh, hello again..." said a voice behind me. "I thought Reimu would have sent you back by now..."

I turned to see Daiyousei hovering behind me with a soft smile on her face, though she also looked rather weary. I shook my head. "Reimu thinks there's going to be another incident in the next day or two," I explained. "Besides, she says Yukari would just pull me right back through..."

Daiyousei pouted and looked haggard for a moment. "Mm... well, at least you didn't run into Cirno last night... she was livid after being so handily dealt with by Reimu..." She shivered just a little. "Anyway, I've been trying to get the others to calm down a bit... there'll be quite a few youkai here tonight, and many of them will be the kind to blast first and never ask questions at all when they're annoyed..."

I nodded, thinking of Mokou's sudden outburst when we had first met. "Mokou?"

Daiyousei winced. "Mokou is a human, not a youkai, but yes... she's rather... _rough_ when it comes to yousei..." She glanced up as a familiar trio of giggling forms flew overhead. "... Those three I just can't deal with. Hopefully I can get the others to calm down, though. Dying doesn't kill us like it does other beings, but it does hurt..."

I nodded, very carefully pushing two sunflowers away from each other and stepping through the gap. Daiyousei's eyes widened. "C-careful..."

I blinked. "I know," I said softly, moving slowly through the thick stalks. "There's no way these flowers could grow so large without someone caring for them for a very long time..."

There was a sudden yell ahead of me, and I took a quick step back, shivering. Daiyousei flitted up and huddled next to me. "Speaking of that caretaker... remember how I said there are youkai coming tonight who're very quick to attack annoying fairies?" she whispered. "One is already here..."

A girl in a red-checked dress floated past overhead, and as the trio fluttered to a halt, one of them starting to taunt her, she suddenly lifted a parasol and swung it so hard that my clothes fluttered in the wind produced by its wake. Sunny, Luna, and Star vanished simultaneously into smoke, and the girl landed, settling the parasol on her shoulder. "Much better..." she murmured, and then turned to look at us.

The face that turned to me was smiling, but the mere sight of it made me want to turn and run blindly, although I knew I couldn't without damaging the flowers. Dark red eyes regarded both me and the fairy at my shoulder with amusement, and the smile slowly deepened into a smirk as her eyes lowered to the ground.

I followed her gaze, and found a young sunflower under my foot, clearly a new sprout, so small I hadn't seen or felt it when I stepped onto it in my haste to back away from the yell. With a small cry, I knelt to examine it, trying to prop up the flower gently; I had only hit part of the stem with my foot, and I hoped the flower hadn't been killed outright by my mistake.

The girl was approaching now, twirling her parasol lightly on her shoulder as her green hair fluttered. "Hm... and just what happened here, hm?" she murmured.

I shivered. "I-I'm sorry... you startled me when you yelled before, and I didn't realize there was a sunflower right behind me..."

Daiyousei hesitantly fluttered a little closer. "Sh-she's telling the truth, Miss Yuuka..." she said. "Please, she's just a normal human who made a mistake... you can see she's sorry about it..."

The fairy eeped and fluttered rapidly back as Yuuka swatted barehanded at her. "So, little human... you think it's okay to just come into my field and kill my flowers by accident?" she said, her voice sweet and that terrifying smile back on her face. "Is that what you thought?"

I shivered, trying to prop the flower up. "I-I really am sorry... I-I'll plant a new one, raise it myself... j-just please, don't hurt me..."

Yuuka's smile grew until it parted her lips, white teeth glinting at me as she suddenly closed her parasol and pointed it at my throat. "Oh? You'll just plant a new one, hm? Tell me, if I killed you, would your parents just be able to have a new child and go on like nothing had happened...?"

I blinked, barely daring to breathe as the surprisingly sharp point traced over my throat. "N-no, of course not... b-but I'm a human being, not a flower... a new child would be... different..."

Yuuka's smile only grew wider, and the world around us seemed to darken as a bright blue energy began to concentrate at the point tracing over my neck. "And a new flower wouldn't be, I see... haa, you humans all think alike..." She tensed, and her voice rose to a roar. "So tell me, kid... What makes you think your life's worth more to me or to anyone than that of the flower you so casually killed?"

I shivered, everything I held dropping to the ground as I found myself quite literally staring my death in the face. I couldn't believe my life was about to end like it seemed it surely must, at the hands of an insane youkai who loved her flowers a little too much...

Yuuka grinned, and tossed what looked like a seed to her side. "That's more like it... now you get the idea..."

As I watched, the seed seemed to suddenly sprout and grow, thin roots twining around one another and slowly taking on a shape... one that rapidly became human, clothed in a long plaid dress and topped with a mane of green hair. Within the space of a few seconds, I found myself staring into the wild eyes of two Yuukas, both now pointing their glowing parasols at me. The two grinned and howled out in unison, "And the crowd goes wild for the original... undefeatable... Double Spark!"

I felt a sudden tug at my collar, and I quickly gathered the book into my arms as I felt a sudden lurch as I was yanked backwards, the sight of the two Yuukas replaced by a deep violet blur... one that soon faded back to the field, and with a jolt I realized I was standing several meters behind Yuuka now, watching as she and her double each launched an earth-shaking blue laser that looked oddly familiar...

Yuuka spun to glare at me, her copy withering and fading away as she opened her parasol and twirled it. "Hm... I see a certain old maid is interfering again... eh, Ran?"

The hand that had pulled me to safety was still on my shoulder, and I turned to see a woman in an oddly-shaped mob cap behind me. After a moment, I realized the shape suggested some sort of pointed animal's ears. Numerous long, golden tails rose up from behind the woman, white at the very tip, and she wore a long white dress with a long blue banner-like cloth hanging down in the front, decorated with squares and winding lines in white. Her golden eyes were fixed on Yuuka, and she frowned. "Yukari-hime has taken an interest in this girl," she said, her voice soft but still like steel. "I refuse to allow you to kill her."

Yuuka smirked, and twirled her parasol some more. "And I suppose an old fox like you is going to stop me?" she said lightly.

Ran frowned. "I was planning to do so far earlier, but I was... prevented." She glanced up, and as I looked up, I saw Yukari emerging from one of those strange tears in the air, a pink-haired girl smiling at her side. "Yukari-hime, I still say that was cutting it a little fine... In any case. Surely fighting a normal human would be immensely boring for you... I challenge you for Chitose's safety."

Yuuka smirked up at the youkai above her. "Haa, you must really be interested in her if you're sending a mere shikigami to fight a top-class youkai like me, kyoukai... why not come down here and fight me yourself, hm?"

Yukari grinned down at Yuuka, even more maddeningly than ever. "Because then that really _would_ be a boring fight, silly Yuukarin... Besides, I want to catch a bit of a nap before tonight's excitement. Why not play with my cute little Ran for a while?"

Ran rose lightly off of the ground, her hand leaving me. "So... what sort of contest should we have, Yuuka?" she asked, her voice still quiet. "Simple danmaku wouldn't be much of a challenge, considering your parasol..."

Yuuka chuckled, and rose up above the sunflowers, closing her parasol and pointing it at Ran. "Not to mention that a beast youkai like you wouldn't survive even one hit from my Master Spark..."

I blinked. "Master Spark... isn't that Marisa's move?"

Yuuka rolled her eyes down at me. "Is that little thief still using the move she copied off of me?" she called down, with a yawn.

Yukari chuckled. "More like studied and refined after you nearly blew her head off with it," she called down in a sing-song voice, the girl at her side giggling as they floated lightly to the ground just outside of the patch.

Yuuka's eyes snapped over to her. "Stay out of this y'damn kyoukai," she called lazily back, turning to Ran again. "So, if it's not a spellcard duel, then what?"

Ran tilted her head lightly, her tails spreading a bit so that I could finally count them: nine in all. "You're fond of physical combat," she said lightly. "So... the first of us to force the other to touch the ground wins. Agreed?"

Yuuka grinned, flying towards Ran. "Agreed... c'mon then!"

Ran floated back with a sniff, dense spirals of violet kunai flowing out from her. Yuuka chuckled and spun her parasol, opening it in the path of the kunai and laughing as they impacted on the immaculate surface and simply disappeared. "Now, where are you..." She broke off with a grunt as Ran suddenly flew out of a tear behind her and kicked the flower youkai hard in the back, leaving her gasping and spinning, swatting at the kitsune as Ran glided lightly out of the way. "Now that's just unfair..."

Ran paused, hovering lightly. "She has a point, Yukari-hime," she said quietly. "Please don't interfere with your gaps again..."

The pink-haired girl tilted her head. "How is it unfair?" she asked lightly.

Ran shook her head. "The contest is to make the other hit the ground first," she said. "How can Yuuka force me to the ground if Yukari-hime can warp me to any height she desires at any time she pleases?" She shifted her stance, clenching her fist as she flew towards Yuuka again. "This is a one-on-one contest, so please don't assist..."

Yukari chuckled softly, and motioned me over. I rather hurriedly moved to the shelter of the powerful youkai. "Yuyuko, have you met Chitose here?" she asked lightly, relaxing and seating herself... somehow... on top of another gap.

Yuyuko giggled lightly. "We met briefly at the festival," she said. "I don't think we were really properly introduced though... I was a bit distracted at the time..."

I nodded, bowing lightly to her. The three pale wisps floating around her marked her clearlyas a ghost. She was dressed in a pale blue kimono with a wide, sable obi wrapped around her waist, and held a fan with a curling design in red on it that put me in mind of a spirit's trail. "I'm Chitose Izumo..." I said politely.

Yuyuko smiled. "Yuyuko Saigyouji," she said, bowing in return. "It's pretty dangerous for a human to come here alone, especially on a night like tonight..."

I blinked. "Is there something special about tonight?"

Daiyousei fluttered up as we spoke, her dress ragged; I had the feeling she'd been caught in that blast that Ran had pulled me out of the way of. Yuyuko nodded with a grin. "Oh, you hadn't heard?" she asked. "There's a concert tonight... three dear friends of mine are going to put on a little performance..."

Daiyousei shook her head. "Four, actually... though the fourth is more among my and Cirno's circle of friends than either of yours..."

Yukari tilted her head. "Hm...?"

Daiyousei giggled softly. "Well, they don't really have anything like a lead singer..." She settled to the ground next to me as I sat, nodding. "In any case, you'll see who it is soon enough..."

I looked down at her. "Are concerts common here...? I didn't know there was anyone in Gensokyo with any musical inclination..."

Yuyuko giggled. "You'll see... those three are rather famous around here for their musical talents..."

Daiyousei nodded. "Hence the large number of youkai that will likely be coming tonight..." She shook her head. "Hopefully I can get the other yousei to calm down enough... the prankster trio won't listen at all, but hopefully being bludgeoned with a parasol will get the message across a little better..."

I nodded. "What about Cirno...?" I ventured. "She doesn't really seem like much of the type to listen either... more like the type to attack Yuuka outright..." I looked up to where Ran and Yuuka were still battling, bursts of danmaku occasionally flying out as the two flew through the air and clashed again and again, each trying to force the other down in what I could only call a dance...

Daiyousei blinked. "Oh, Cirno's not coming," she said lightly. "She's still terrified of Yuuka from the last time they fought..." She shivered a bit. "She truly is a terrifying youkai..."

I nodded, looking up towards the battling youkai again. "Will Ran be all right?" I asked softly.

Yukari giggled. "Oh, my little Ran isn't about to lose that easily," she said. "You'll see... besides, she has a rather significant advantage over Yuuka."

Daiyousei nodded. "You've seen it yourself... her flight speed is much slower than the average resident of Gensokyo... and Ran is pretty fast..."

I blinked at that, but nodded. Yuuka had seemed a lot less like a blur and much more like a floating girl as she passed over me before. As I watched, however, the dance suddenly came to a climax.

Yuuka smirked at Ran as she twirled her parasol and somehow once again warded off the hailstorm of kunai the kitsune had released, and then suddenly snapped it closed, that blue energy gathering again. "Master Spark!" she yelled, the air around us shaking anew as the shining blue laser roared out towards its target. Ran grit her teeth and dodged to the side, but as the beam caught her attention briefly, Yuuka surged forward with a wild grin and caught her by the front of her dress. Before Ran could do anything besides glare at Yuuka, the flower-loving youkai drove her knee hard into Ran's stomach, the kitsune gasping in pain and doubling over as Yuuka let go. "Gotcha..." she cooed, giving the wildest smile yet as she swung down her parasol in a wild two-handed strike straight to Ran's back, the fox crying out in pain again as she was launched towards the ground.

Yet, even as she flew, Ran's hand shot out claw-like and seized Yuuka's ankle. "Checkmate..." she hissed between gritted teeth, Yuuka's eyes widening as she was dragged down with the falling kitsune, and before the slow Yuuka could react, Ran twisted herself in midair, turning her downward flight into something resembling a pile-driver... Yuuka smashing into the ground just beneath Ran and gasping as the air was knocked violently out of her.

Yukari chuckled softly. "Well, well, lucky you... seems you're safe..." she said lightly, slipping through the gap she had been sitting on and tugging Ran to her feet lightly.

Ran winced, rubbing the small of her back. "That was close..." she murmured softly.

Yuuka groaned as she sat up, glaring at Ran. "Well... ugh, fine..." She floated over past me, towards the sunflower I had stepped on, and bent to examine it. "... Consider yourself lucky, kid... would've just tracked you down and killed you later if this wasn't salvageable..." She knelt, resting her parasol between neck and shoulder as she cupped the heavy blossom, the stem slowly reknitting itself and standing tall once more.

I blinked as I watched the curious display... perhaps Yuuka really wasn't an evil person at all, merely concerned for her beloved flowers foremost...

Then she backhanded a fairy that flitted too close to her so hard I could have sworn it exploded, and I decided to keep my initial impression of the girl.

I bowed lightly as Ran came over. "Thank you," I murmured softly. "I'm Chitose Izumo..."

Ran nodded. "Ran Yakumo," she said quietly. "And I just wish I had arrived sooner..."

Yuyuko smiled. "I'm sure Yukarin had her reasons," she said lightly.

Ran sighed. "She always does, Yuyuko... she just never tells anyone, even me..."

The shared name between Ran and Yukari finally registered in my mind, and I looked between the youkai and kitsune curiously. Yukari caught my look and smiled. "Oh, Ran earned the right to bear my last name through her service," she said lightly. "She's my shikigami, not my relative."

Ran nodded lightly, and then winced, sitting down heavily. "Ngh... that last hit was truly powerful..." she murmured. "Mistress, would you...?"

Yukari smiled, and snapped her fingers lightly, another tear appearing by Ran's side. The kitsune nodded wearily and leaned through it, shouting so loudly I could still hear her voice echoing back out of it. "Cheeeeen! You're needed; come here at once!"

After a moment, a girl in a long red dress popped out of the gap, tilting her head at Ran. Two long black tails rose from behind her, reminding me of Rin, and a pair of pointed cat's ears poked out of her brown hair, a cute green mob cap nestled between them. "Didn't have to shout so loudly... I wasn't sleeping or anything..." she protested, while simultaneously rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Ran sighed. "I was in a fight with Yuuka... my spine feels like it's cracked," she muttered quietly. "I realize you're still a novice with those spells I taught you, but I need you to do what you can about it..."

The girl blinked, and quickly knelt behind Ran, hands vanishing behind her tails as she set about chanting quietly, a magic circle appearing around both girls. Ran sighed quietly and looked up to me. "This is Chen, my shikigami," she said quietly. "Chen, this is Chitose, an outsider in Gensokyo."

Chen glanced up at me, tilting her head. "Yukari-hime brought another one through?" she asked.

I watched them for a moment, then glanced over at Yukari, who was now laying down on one of her gaps as if it were a hammock, eyes peacefully closed as Yuyuko floated by her side, giggling softly. "Wait... so..." I looked back at the two shikigami. My own experience with myth told me that there was generally a strong power gap between a master and his shikigami servant, and yet... "Chen, did you say you were _Ran's_ shikigami?" I asked. "But I thought Ran was one too..."

Ran nodded. "I am," she said. "But I'm also powerful enough in my own right to take on a shikigami of my own..." She spread her nine tails again and chuckled. "I'm quite a few centuries old, my dear... more than strong enough to be mistress to my cute little Chen here..."

Chen giggled as one of the tails tickled her under her chin. "Yeah, even Reimu has a hard time against Mistress Ran..." she murmured, twitching away from the tail as the magic circles faltered along with her focus.

I looked back over to the sleeping kyoukai, dumbfounded. "... Just how powerful _is_ she?" I breathed.

Ran chuckled softly. "Be thankful that nobody's seen her fighting seriously at full strength in decades," she said lightly.

Chen grinned, pressing her hands lightly to Ran's back again; I could feel the magic began to flow more strongly between them. "Heh, that goofball Cirno can say what she likes, but there's no doubt that Yukari-hime is the real strongest in Gensokyo..." She paused. "Mistress, can I stay for the concert?"

Ran raised an eyebrow. "Have you finished the tasks I gave you?" she asked lightly.

Chen's fur stood on end for a moment, and she fidgeted, pressing her pointer fingers together lightly. "Um... not yet...?"

Ran nodded. "Well, after you finish them, you can come back and watch," she said serenely, laying back in the grass. "None of your usual excuses, either... I'm not exactly in a fit state to be taking care of your job for you..."

Chen wilted a little. "O-okay, Mistress Ran..." With a pout and a mew, Chen rose.

Ran leaned up enough to pat her on the back gently. "If you apply yourself, there will be plenty of time to return before the concert," she said lightly. "I'll ensure a gap remains open for you to return through, so hurry back, little Chen."

Chen blushed lightly and nodded, stepping through the gap and vanishing. Ran sighed and laid back, and I kneeled by her side. "I'm sorry..." I murmured softly.

Ran shook her head lightly. "I was watching you for a while before I interfered," she said quietly. "I should be apologizing, for not coming to warn you before ever setting foot in those flowers..."

I blinked. "Daiyousei already had warned me, though," I pointed out. "If I hadn't been so careless..."

Daiyousei pouted. "Chitose, cut it out," she said. "It was an accident, and Yuuka was able to fix it anyway..." She paused, and tugged my sleeve. "Let's just let Ran rest, okay...?"

I nodded, moving away as the fox shikigami tugged her cap down over her eyes, exposing tawny-furred ears nestled among her hair.

Daiyousei smiled lightly as we sat back down, looking out towards the setting sun. "The concert should begin pretty soon," she said quietly.

I nodded. "So, those three that Yuyuko mentioned hold concerts often?"

Daiyousei nodded. "Fairly often, anyway," she said quietly. "They're a very popular trio... many youkai will be coming tonight to see them, so you should be on guard... though I doubt anyone is dumb enough to try something right under Yukari's nose..."

I nodded, and was about to reply when Yuuka stormed by, throwing me a glare before turning her eyes on Daiyousei. Struck by a sudden impulse, I tugged the child-sized fairy into my lap, the girl taking on a soft blush but settling in a little. Yuuka snorted and stormed off again. "Thanks..." Daiyousei murmured.

I nodded. "Sorry you ended up getting hit by a blast meant for me..." I murmured.

Daiyousei shrugged. "Pain fades fast for yousei... it's why so many of us barely bother evading danger..." she murmured. "Not that it isn't unpleasant, but you had no way of knowing I was in the path of her Spark... even I didn't know until the beam hit..."

I nodded, giving her a little bit of a squeeze. "Still, at least you're trying to calm down the others..." I murmured. "Trying to keep them from getting blasted by the youkai... That's something."

Daiyousei fluttered her wings lightly and shrugged. "Not that they'll listen to me," she said quietly. "Some of them don't care, others just say they'll take on any youkai anyway... and then some of them are just so dumb they don't even understand what I'm telling them..."

I rolled my eyes. "Three guesses where the prankster trio fall into..." I murmured.

Daiyousei nodded, glancing back. "Not very fond of those three, are you?"

I winced. "Not enough to enjoy seeing them getting smashed by an angry flower-youkai, but yeah... it's almost like they've been following me at this point just to keep on pranking me." I shivered a little. "Last time I ended up wandering into the bamboo forest in the middle of the night... I almost got sick because of their games... honestly, if Mokou hadn't found me I don't know what would have happened."

Daiyousei winced at the name. "She's a good friend to humans, from what Akyu says, but not very nice to fairies..." she murmured.

I found myself stroking those flittering wings. "I know. She blasted Sunny straight off... the others ran for it..." I looked down at her. "You certainly don't seem to fit into the archetype though."

Daiyousei shrugged a little, the fairy fidgeting and blushing as she felt my fingertips against her wings. "Well, it's not like we don't feel concern for one another," she said quietly. "Those three especially always try to work as a team, and if you hurt one the other two will usually soon come running... I just decided to channel that concern to a more general approach..."

I nodded. "Like when you warned me away from Cirno last night..."

Daiyousei nodded again. "Cirno isn't a really bad person, she's just... hugely overconfident, and frankly she's dumb even for a fairy," she murmured. "I mean, we've been friends for a long time, but she keeps running off and challenging people, even youkai..."

I tilted my head. "She seemed pretty strong back at the festival."

Daiyousei shook her head lightly. "Yousei are universally weaker than youkai," she said softly. "It's the price we pay for being so ephemeral and eternal at the same time, I guess... though Cirno certainly seems to be bent on violating that rule these days." She smiled a bit.

I nodded and chuckled softly, still tending to her wings. "Gotcha..." I murmured. "What about you?"

Daiyousei shook her head. "I may be a 'greater fairy', but I'm still not very strong. Maybe enough to handle one of the younger youkai, but not likely... the only time I really got into a danmaku fight, Reimu defeated me before I could even cast my lone spellcard..." She leaned lightly back against me. "Why are you doing that...?"

I blinked, looking down at her wings. "Oh... is it bothering you...? I thought you liked it."

Daiyousei giggled just a bit. "Oh, I do, it just... seems a bit odd..." She shook her head. "Never mind..."

I smiled, settling her gently in my lap. "You seem a bit comfy," I teased.

The fairy blushed. "M-maybe... honestly, fairies don't get treated like this often, especially by humans..." She pouted lightly. "Well, most of us do enjoy playing tricks on them; even I do from time to time, though it's nothing dangerous like some of the others do..."

I shrugged. "Yeah, but you seem pretty nice... and you've helped me before, too... you even tried to stand up to Yuuka for me..."

Daiyousei winced. "And got introduced to the original Master Spark for my trouble," she murmured. "I suppose I should have known better than to expect Yuuka would see reason..." She leaned against me, wings fluttering lightly. "Fairies don't generally make a lot of friends besides other fairies, but I might make an exception for you," she teased.

As I smiled back at her, a voice came from overhead. "Whoa, Daiyousei... you finally find yourself someone?"

The source of the voice soon landed in front of us, his cute young face grinning under a head of green hair and a pair of curled antennae. A cape around his shoulders suggested the shape of a beetle's wings, and beneath he wore a simple white shirt and baggy blue pants. Daiyousei blinked, and laughed. "Wriggle, don't be silly... Chitose's just a friend..."

I found myself blushing wildly at even the thought, fidgeting as I looked at the boy who had caught us like this. "Th-that's right... anyway, we're both girls, so..."

Wriggle tilted his head. "So?"

Daiyousei blinked, and then smiled a little. "It's not like it's uncommon here... though I guess from your reaction it's a bit less common Outside?"

I fidgeted and nodded. "Some places it's worse than others, but pretty much everywhere it's at least... sorta taboo..."

Wriggle blinked. "She's from Outside?" he asked, glancing up at me. Then he shook his head. "Yeah, nothing like that here," he said. "I mean, people just sorta love who they love, y'know?" He smirked a bit. "Though that does translate into a lot of two-girl relationships... when you spend most of your time around girls, you're a lot more likely to grow close to one."

I tilted my head. "Well... wouldn't that be a problem for you, then?" I asked hesitantly.

Wriggle blinked. "Why would that be a... oh." He groaned, and slapped his forehead.

Daiyousei giggled. "Wriggle's a girl, silly," she whispered in my ear.

Wriggle sighed. "Why does everyone think I'm a boy?" she muttered.

I quickly bowed my head, the only part I could move with a fairy in my lap. "I-I'm sorry..."

It was starting to grow dark, and I blinked as myriad pale green lights began to flash around Wriggle and myself. "What's...?"

Wriggle grinned a bit. "Wriggle Nightbug, _female_ firefly youkai at your service," she said, giving a mock bow. "Controlling insects is my specialty..." She settled herself next to us. "Any friend of Daiyousei's is a friend of mine, so... good to meet you."

I nodded, looking out from the field again as lights began to spring up here and there, revealing people starting to gather off to the sides. "So... is whatever event's happening tonight going to begin soon?" I murmured. I recognized a fair number of the figures, but many I didn't know or recognize, and I was beginning to get a bit skittish after my earlier near-brush with death.

A familiar black-and-white blur whizzed by overhead, accompanied by the panicked shouts of a young man. The blur halted in midair and streaked back towards us, landing lightly. "Howdy Wriggle, Daiyousei," Marisa said with a grin, tipping her hat to them. "Nice night for a concert, huh?"

Wriggle laid back in the grass, arms behind her head. "Sure is... what brings you here though, Marisa?" She paused, and raised her head an inch. "And, um... what's the deal with that outfit?"

Marisa had indeed changed up her outfit from the last time I had seen her. While she had kept the black dress and white sleeves, the witch had tied a tan apron on over her dress, emblazoned with an enormous letter M. Her hat, too, was different, with a white sash tied around the base of its point and a red star adorning it near the tip. She was riding her broom, as always, and held in her right hand a thin, curled length of wood that I assumed to be some sort of wand.

The witch grinned. "What, I can't dress up and look snazzy?" she teased. "Reimu says we're goin' out to investigate that incident tomorrow, so I decided to dress up for it, that's all."

Daiyousei fidgeted. "I almost hesitate to ask this, considering what use you normally put it to, but... where's your mini-hakkero?"

Marisa blinked, her free hand digging into her apron and pulling out the octagonal device I'd seen her use to fire the Master Spark a few days ago. "Right here, duh," she said. "I'm not about to leave my treasure behind, ze!"

For a moment, I registered where I had seen a device like that - the name "hakkero" told all - but my attention was quickly drawn to the tall figure stepping off of the broom behind Marisa, looking shakey and frowning at her. "M-marisa, do you have to fly so fast?" Rinnosuke murmured.

Marisa grinned back at him. "I told ya, Kourin, you just gotta hang on tight, that's all! I wouldn't let you fall off, ze."

Rinnosuke sat down heavily in the grass. "You're going to be the death of me one of these days, I swear it..." he muttered, and then blinked as he caught sight of me. "Oh... hello again, Chitose... I see Reimu wasn't feeling reasonable..."

I shook my head. "Not on the eve of an incident, anyway..." I murmured. "She wants to conserve her energy for the fight ahead, I suppose..." I paused. "That, and Yukari would certainly just send me back again..."

Rinnosuke winced. "So it's her doing, huh?"

I nodded. "She told me herself," I said quietly, looking over to where the kyoukai was still sleeping, now with her head securely nestled in Yuyuko's lap. "She keeps saying something about potential... apparently I'm a magician or something, or becoming one anyway, thanks to Gensokyo..."

Rinnosuke nodded, and I glanced at him. "So, what are you doing way out here...?"

Rinnosuke chuckled. "I could ask you the same thing... but, Marisa agreed to escort me out here, to make sure no youkai decided to attack me," he said. "I wanted to see the concert too, so I accepted."

I nodded. "I saw something yellow in the distance as I was preparing to trek to the mountain," I said. "I followed them, ended up here, and very nearly got myself killed by a crazy flower-loving youkai..."

Marisa smirked. "Heh... Yuuka causing trouble again?" She sat back on her broom, hovering lightly above the ground. "Eh, she messes with you guys, I'll deal with her, ze!"

Ran chuckled as she came up. "I already did," she said calmly, sitting next to us.

I looked up at Marisa. "So, you and Reimu are going to go investigate those strange lights?" I asked, even as one flew over our heads. "Just you two?"

Marisa nodded. "Yeah. I was thinkin' of having Alice along, but then Reimu'd have nobody to team up with... she's mad at both Yukari and Suika right now..."

I nodded. "What about Sanae...?"

Marisa blinked. "Nah, we hadn't asked her, but... that might be a good idea..." She grinned. "Bet she's already fired up about these crazy things anyway... especially if she thinks they're UFOs like Kourin does..." She tossed up her miniature hakkero and grinned. "Plus, I'll actually get to show off my Master Spark to her this time if she comes along..."

"You mean _my_ Master Spark, thief." Yuuka's drawl echoed over to us.

Marisa stuck out her tongue in the general direction of the voice. "You'd never have gotten it if it weren't for Miss Mima, ze, and don't you forget it!"

Rinnosuke saw the question forming on my lips and put a hand on my shoulder. "It's a touchy subject," he said quietly. "Don't ask."

I nodded, mind casting back. "... Daisuke mentioned her," I murmured softly.

Rinnosuke grimaced. "He would..." he muttered. "Marisa's association with Mima was probably the last straw for him..."

Marisa glanced back at us. "Kourin, I'm not a little kid anymore," she said quietly. "It's been ten years since I last saw her... Miss Mima was a spirit, an incredibly powerful one... she's the one who taught me magic, and basically raised me after my dad threw me out. But, a little while after the Makai incident, she vanished without a trace... I haven't heard a thing, and if Reimu knows something, she's not tellin'..."

I nodded quietly. "I see..."

Marisa nodded. "Miss Mima taught me the basics that let me develop the Master Spark," she said. "I doubt Yuuka figured it out on her own, so that makes Miss Mima the real inventor..."

I fidgeted. "She sounds... terrifyingly powerful..." I murmured.

Marisa flashed me a wide grin. "You've got that one right, ze," she said proudly. "Miss Mima at full power is totally undefeatable... Reimu might've beaten her a few times in the past, but that was only 'cause she'd just gotten free of her seal..." She sighed a little. "Still... the fact is, she's gone now..." She gazed out towards the horizon. "I just wish... I knew why, y'know?" she murmured, slowly frowning. "At this point, even just finding out for sure she's dead would be enough... but I don't even have that..."

With a sigh, the magician plopped herself down next to Rinnosuke. "Anyway... that's enough of that," she said, a grin stealing back onto her face. "Tonight's the last night before we go out incident-chasing, and I intend to enjoy it, ze!"

Rinnosuke laughed. "True enough..."

Ran chuckled, nodding to me. "Just sit back and relax, you four. Nobody's about to try and harm you with the black-white witch and Yukari-hime's primary shikigami around..."

A gap opened up by her side, and Chen popped out, looking around skittishly. "I-I didn't miss it, did I?" she mewed.

Ran tugged the girl lightly into her lap, resting her chin between her ears as she embraced her snugly. "No, you're just in time," she said, nodding as a circle of grass before us was suddenly lit as if by sunlight. "Now, hush, my little Chen..."

Chen blushed redly and went silent, except for a purr I could barely hear as she nestled back against her mistress. Daiyousei winked up at me. "Are you going to keep me in your lap the whole time?" she teased.

I blushed a little, then settled my hold a bit more snugly about her. "Sure, why not?" I teased back, and then fell silent as three figures streaked down from above towards the stage.

The three girls landed, and then hovered lightly above the stage. Even from a distance, the family resemblance between them was obvious; even their clothes were almost identical except in color. The girl in the center, a blonde girl with a black jacket and skirt similar to Satori's and a black hat with a crescent moon on top, stepped forward, a violin nestled in her arms. "Hello again, everyone," she said, a soft smile on her face. "It's been far too long since we've done one of these, hasn't it?"

To her left, a girl in pink with a trumpet and a sun atop her hat giggled. "Yeah, definitely, big sis," she said, spinning lightly in place and making her blue hair fly out a bit with the motion.

The third girl was floating behind a large keyboard, and I wondered where she had gotten such a thing... though I supposed that considering some of the things Kourindou sold, it wasn't all that unusual even for Gensokyo. "For some of our listeners, anyway," she said with a smirk. This last girl was dressed in red, with a green star topping her hat and white hair poking out from beneath.

Daiyousei glanced up at me, and then pointed at them from right to left. "Lyrica, Lunasa, and Merlin Prismriver," she whispered quietly.

Merlin giggled, her trumpet taking on a life of its own and spinning wildly around her. "Hee, big sis, it's gonna be a little different this time, though, huh?"

Lunasa laughed, lifting her bow gently. "Settle down, Merlin... we'll get to that part in due time." She nodded to Lyrica. "Ready, sisters?"

Lyrica cracked her fingers, then proceeded to float back several feet and cross her arms, her keyboard running through a flurry of scales. "Everything checks out, boss," she said lightly.

Lunasa chuckled and nodded. "Then go ahead and start us off," she said.

Lyrica nodded, and her keyboard began to play itself again. After a moment, the sound of percussion came from seemingly nowhere, flowing around them. Two repeats of Lyrica's melody passed, and Lunasa lifted her bow again and joined in, a simpler, flowing version of the keyboard's melody. The song grew louder and more lively as the two sisters continued, Merlin looking a bit bored until, after another two measures, Lunasa stilled her bow and nodded to her. Almost instantly, Merlin lit up and floated higher into the air, her trumpet spinning around her as she broke into a wild solo, grinning happily. She didn't bother to even touch it, the instrument going through a startling series of flips and spins before she finally took hold of it and "blew" into the wrong end, the sound coming out perfectly despite the girl's antics. With a shake of her head, Lunasa joined back in, still holding her violin and running the bow lovingly across the strings as Lyrica started back up again, the three siblings merging in a lively three-part harmony.

Rinnosuke chuckled. "They always start up with this one..."

Ran nodded. "Well, it is 'their song', after all," she said lightly. "The only one of their own composition..."

I looked up at the stage. "How do Merlin and Lyrica do that, with their instruments?" I asked. "Are those three tsukumogami, like Medicine?"

Marisa blinked. "Medicine? Heh, nah, those three? They're poltergeists... they can control their instruments pretty much as they please. Lunasa just plays hers for show, and Merlin just does whatever she pleases. It's pretty fun to watch, though."

Chen giggled. "They call themselves the Phantom Ensemble for a reason, y'know," she said. "Which, incidentally, is the name of that song, too..."

Onstage, the three melodies wound on, sometimes dropping out but always returning, until all three sisters concluded with a flourish. Lunasa smiled and pointed with her bow. "Well, I think that got the crowd going," she said with a chuckle.

It was true. While far from the ear-shattering cheers of the modern concert, the various youkai and humans arrayed around the group were whooping and clapping enthusiastically.

Merlin giggled. "Big sis, is it time yet?"

Lyrica rolled her eyes. "Third number, goof..." she said. "This was our first."

Lunasa nodded. "Well, it wouldn't be a Prismriver concert if we didn't play our song," she said lightly, bowing to the audience, "But for this next song, we've managed to dig up an old score from the storage room in our home..."

Lyrica nodded. "Lunasa thinks it's something our sister might've owned once... I dunno about that. There's a lot of old junk in that place."

Lunasa shot her a light look. "Anyway, it's a piece meant for an orchestra, but I think we can make do with just the three of us. So, sit back and enjoy..."

Merlin nodded, taking hold of her trumpet again. Mystia's face seemed to grow more set, and she laid her hands on her keyboard, though she still pressed none of the keys. Lunasa raised her bow, and tapped it lightly against the head of her violin. "Go ahead, Merlin," she said quietly.

Even Merlin was all seriousness now as she lifted her trumpet to her mouth and blew. A wild fanfare sounded out, almost seeming as if it were coming from three different sources. Lunasa raised her bow in turn as the trumpet faded and struck out five swift notes in a quick counterpoint. Merlin sounded out again, followed by Lunasa, and then the two sisters began a two-part melody that swelled out from them, loud and powerful and speaking with every note of wild energy, a frantic and at times utterly disastrous piece. At some point, a flute began to steal into the music, and I wondered for some time about its source before realizing the keys of Lyrica's keyboard were moving under her hands, the girl frowning lightly as her synthesizers went to work emulating the wind instruments needed for the song.

At times, the song seemed to lighten, the melody seeming almost to spin like a dance. I looked down, and found Daiyousei clinging lightly to me. "It's amazing..." she murmured. "But... almost terrifying..."

I nodded. The three parts had swelled again, almost sounding like the fanfare announcing some ancient monster's rising from a forgotten trench of the sea. "It is... it sounds a lot like a classical composer's work, but I can't place which..."

Ran smiled. "It's less classical than you might think," she said quietly. "The composer died in 1911, shortly before this piece was first performed..."

I looked over, conscious as the music sank and then began to swell once more to an ominous crescendo, before suddenly softening, a gentle and yet still somehow horrible melody. "You know this piece, Ran?"

Ran nodded quietly. "I knew Layla loved music deeply, but I didn't realize she had sheet music like this..."

I blinked at the unfamiliar name, but elected not to ask... instead listening as the flutes took over the melody, fear and tenderness swelling almost in cycle with each measure, Lyrica's eyes now closed as she put her full concentration into the song.

The song wound on as we all lapsed back into silence again, power in every note as Lunasa and Merlin joined back in... the song winding on, putting me now in the mind of crashing waves before a storm beneath pitch-black clouds. As the piece neared its end, the girls tensed, and the motion of all three instruments became wilder and wilder, faster and faster and faster until, with a final crash of sound, it ended.

I looked down at my watch. The whole piece together had taken a little longer than ten minutes. It had seemed like far longer that I had sat spellbound before the melody... Then I stared out at the audience. There was no whooping and cheering this time, just outright awe. Even Marisa was subdued, shaking her head lightly. "Never heard them play like that before, ze..." she murmured.

Merlin was the first to really break the silence. "Well... I think that one was a little too intense, eh big sis?" she asked.

Lunasa smiled. "No such thing, if you play your hearts out," she replied, resting her violin lovingly in the crook of her arm.

Only now did the applause begin, scattered at first before breaking into a flurry of clapping, cheers ringing out.

Chen giggled. "That was amazing..." she purred.

Ran nodded. "Indeed... I'm sure they've been practicing that one for months..." she said softly. "Perhaps that's why they've waited so long since their last concert..."

Rinnosuke chuckled softly. "Or maybe they were just holding off because of all the incidents lately," he said.

Marisa grinned. "Yeah, it's been crazy, ze... Reimu didn't even want to come out tonight 'cause she wanted to rest up..."

Rinnosuke glanced at Ran with a smile. "So, Yukari's been putting that gramophone I sold her to good use?"

Ran laughed lightly. "Ah, is that where she got it from? Yes, I have..."

I glanced over at her, finding that I was holding Daiyousei a bit tightly, though the fairy didn't seem to mind in the least. "You said you knew the piece, Ran?"

Ran nodded. "Gustav Mahler was a German composer from near the end of the nineteenth century," she said. "That was definitely his work... it's one of his finest pieces." She paused. "Sadly, he never did hear it performed. This was his ninth symphony, the... third movement, I believe. Rondo-burlesque, he called it..." She chuckled softly. "Not much of a dance, or a comedy, is it?"

Daiyousei was still trembling, holding on to me. "Not at all..." she murmured. "That was... truly intense..."

Chen was nestled a bit into Ran, nodding. "Yeah, wasn't it...?" She glanced up at Ran and purred a little. "But I'm okay with Mistress Ran here..."

Ran laughed, patting Chen gently between her ears. "Truly great music is supposed to stir emotions, Daiyousei," she said lightly. "Mahler was an especially talented composer... but also a bit of a tradition-breaker... Rondo-burlesque is more of a dance of death than any sort of humorous composition."

Yukari poked her head in, quite literally, as a gap appeared behind us. "I heard that some say that the drums in that particular movement represent the composer's own arrhythmic heart," she said with a light laugh. "I doubt you've heard music like that before, mm?"

Daiyousei shook her head quietly, looking up to the poltergeists again as they basked in the applause. "Never..." she murmured. "I suppose... I'm not used to such things..."

Wriggle crossed her arms. "Well... I don't think you'd even be used to an emotion like that," she said softly. "Death can never come to fairies... it's not possible for you to fear for your life." She pointed. "And yet, those three still managed to stir it in you..."

Daiyousei fidgeted, and I tightened my grip gently around her. "I think she's right, Daiyousei," I murmured quietly. "So just... try and calm down, okay? I'm right here... you're safe."

The fairy flapped her wings a little, and then nodded. "You're right... just have to calm down..."

Marisa grinned. "You're safe, and among friends, ze," she said. "Anyway, I think they're starting the next set..."

Merlin was now "juggling" her trumpet, and smiled over at Lunasa. "So, third song, right?" she called. "Time for the big reveal?"

Lunasa shook her head and chuckled softly. "Yes, yes... now then, we have a bit of a change to the program for our next piece. After all these concerts of just instrumental pieces, we decided we should branch out a little, and include some vocal pieces."

Lyrica smirked. "Unfortunately, the power to supernaturally manipulate an instrument doesn't necessarily confer the ability to carry a tune," she remarked.

Merlin promptly went into a warbling, high-pitched rendition of "My Heart Will Go On" that made everyone in earshot cringe until Lunasa whapped her lightly over the head with her bow. "Okay, enough of the cliche songs..." she murmured lightly. "Anyway, so... luckily, we were able to find someone able to sing without abrading everyone's eardrums..."

I looked up above to see a dimly lit figure hovering above the stage, slowly descending. Wriggle blinked. "Hey, isn't that...?"

Merlin raised her trumpet and blew a fanfare. "Okay, everyone, let's give a big welcome to our new lead vocalist!" As the girl above descended into the light, Merlin giggled. "Mystia Lorelei!"

The girl now fluttering down to the stage was dressed in a simple dun-brown dress and cap, white sleeves poking out from underneath the sleeveless colored part as seemed to be the fashion among many residents of Gensokyo. A tiny decoration like a pair of wings topped her hat, and she had many ribbons tied onto her dress along a curving line that meandered like a migration. After a moment, I realized the shape of the ribbons suggested wings as well. That she was a youkai, and a bird-youkai at that, was obvious the moment I saw her tufted ears and her wings, cute pink feathers ruffling lightly as she landed.

Lyrica chuckled. "And if any of our resident incident-solvers are hanging around out there, don't worry, she's promised not to use her powers... not on the audience anyway..."

I looked over at Marisa. "Powers...?"

Marisa laughed. "Mystia's a night sparrow, so... night-blindness, duh~" she said in a sing-song voice. "Eh, not that I'm gonna mess with it... unless she tries to sell the audience those lampreys of hers into the bargain..."

I nodded and looked back to the stage as Mystia raised a microphone. Lamprey eels were said to cure night-blindness... someone that could manipulate that trait could make quite a bit of cash off of that...

Rinnosuke frowned a little. "Her songs often induce terror in humans," he said quietly. "She's not exactly friendly towards humans, either... though hopefully the threat of Reimu being around will keep her in line..."

Wriggle shrugged. "Eh... she's cooled down a bit after the endless night when we both fought them," she said. "I don't think she'd cause problems at a concert like this..."

Mystia was now running through a simple scale, testing out the mike, and I found my sight seeming to dim, holding a little more tightly to Daiyousei. Wriggle groaned. "And then again, maybe she would..."

Marisa just stood up, grinning. "Oh, Mystia~" she called out. "I've got a Spark with yer name on it if you don't knock it off, ze..."

Mystia blanched, and my sight returned to normal. "O-oh, heya Marisa..." she stammered out. "Didn't see you there... a-anyway, I was just fooling around, honest!"

Lunasa shook her head lightly. "This is music, not noise," she reminded gently, raising her bow and running it along the strings. "Shall we begin the next number?"

Merlin pouted a little and settled cross-legged in the air, trumpet in her lap. "Yup..."

Lyrica smiled a bit. "You're not the only one who's had no part in a number before, big sis," she said quietly. "You'll have plenty of chances to play, you know that."

Merlin grinned after a moment. "Yeah... good point, sis."

Lyrica lowered her hands to her keyboard, actually starting to play this time as her fingers danced over the keys. After a measure or two, Mystia began to sing quietly, and my eyes widened at the words I heard. " _Anna ni ishou datta no ni..._ "

Lunasa's violin started as well, and Mystia smiled as she leaned a little closer to the microphone and sang the second line. " _Yugure wa no chigau ii no..._ "

As Lyrica and Lunasa swung into the song's full, lively melody, I looked over at the others. "I know this song..." I murmured.

Marisa tilted her head. "Oh, yeah? Not one I've heard before..."

Ran shook her head. "Nor I..." She looked at the four onstage. "Is it recent...?"

I nodded. "Within the last... five years, I'd say..." I murmured. "It's the ending to one of the Gundam series..."

Marisa blinked, and then started to snicker. "Ah, geez... this one's got Sanae's fingerprints all over it..." she managed to get out. "She's nuts about that sorta stuff... betcha anything she's hanging around somewhere and requested it..."

Chen smiled. "Well, either way it's nice," she pointed out. "Sanae's clearly got good taste."

Rinnosuke chuckled softly. "Yes... it's soothing..."

I nodded. "The original band is known for doing very beautiful songs, mostly on violin."

Wriggle seemed as if she were lost in thought, but suddenly the fireflies that had been hovering around her began to fly in a pattern above her, lights tracing out the shape of a squat frog. I blinked. "Er... Wriggle?"

Daiyousei giggled. "Oh, I see..."

Rinnosuke nodded. "Let's just say frogs are rather closely associated with our newcomer shrine maiden." Remembering the frog clip in her hair, I nodded quietly in agreement.

After a moment of the fireflies flashing, a small light flew up from along the right "arm" of the stage, and Wriggle nodded. "There she is."

Marisa stretched a bit and hopped onto her broom. "I'm gonna go talk to her about the incident thing," she said. "Ran, can I count on ya to keep an eye on Kourin here?"

Rinnosuke blinked, eyeing Ran with a bit of suspicion. The kitsune simply returned his look and nodded gravely. "I'm already keeping an eye on Chitose as per Yukari-hime's orders," she said. "As long as he doesn't go wandering off, which I very much doubt, he's perfectly safe here."

Marisa nodded, turning a bit on her broom and taking off, leaving a trail of light in her wake as she headed for where the light still shone over where Sanae was. I looked over at Ran. "Yukari asked you to watch me?" I asked.

Chen rolled her eyes. "Well, it's not like she'd bring you through and just leave you dangling," she said.

Rinnosuke snorted. "Most humans that wander through the Border _don't_ survive for very long," he pointed out. "To be bluntly honest, I've known quite a few that were eaten by less friendly youkai than the present company..."

Ran nodded quietly. "However, Yukari-hime specifically brought Chitose through," she pointed out. "Most people from Outside don't appear at the shrine, after all..." She played with Chen's ears a little. "Chitose, your devotions to the shrine and your potential to develop magic attracted her interest. For better or for ill, you've caught her eye, and she's not likely to let you be killed before she's had her fun."

I nodded quietly, glancing over once again towards the kyoukai girl. She was awake now, sitting next to Yuyuko, and both girls were lit from below by a low light from the gap they were sitting on. "I guess I should thank her..."

Rinnosuke frowned. "Don't get into any delusions that she's some sort of savior, Chitose," he said quietly. "I don't really like speaking ill of someone in front of their servant, but the fact is that this 'protection' is only guaranteed as long as you're interesting to Yukari. When that's gone, she's not going to be watching your every moment..." He glanced at Ran.

Ran shook her head quietly. "It's true, after a fashion, but Yukari-hime doesn't relish pointless death like that flower witch," she countered. "If I ask her, I'm sure she'd let me step in if you fell into danger again..." She smiled lightly. "Not that I think you'll have much opportunity to need it. But, I'm not only protecting you because my mistress has ordered it so, Chitose..."

My mind whirling, I turned my attention back to the concert, and the other two seemed to understand, quickly dropping the subject. Cuddling a little with Daiyousei, I looked up at the stage, resolving to go and visit with Sanae as well after the next number. Surely she'd be glad to hear her fellow outsider was still in Gensokyo and on her way to visit...

Of course, the next piece was almost immediately followed by another song, and then another and another... Before I knew it, I found myself falling asleep in the warm grass as the music rolled around me.


	6. Fifth Day ~ A Third Companion At The Mountain's Base

That next morning, I awoke to find Daiyousei's face less than a foot away from mine, eyes content and a hint of pink in her cheeks. As I yelped and rolled back, turning red, Daiyousei rolled away and burst into giggles. "Hee, I knew that would work... I got you so red..."

Still blushing, I sat up and looked at the giggling fairy. "Um... what was that about...?"

Daiyousei sat up, still beaming. "A prank, silly," she said, slowly starting to flitter into the air. "That, and I wanted to be around when you woke up. I didn't want you starting without me..."

I blinked, digging in my bag and drawing out one of the kimonos Reisen had made. "Without you...? Did you want to come along, Daiyousei?"

Daiyousei smiled and nodded. "If you don't mind," she said quietly, parting the sunflowers with expert care and ushering me in so I could change in relative privacy.

As I emerged, the fairy was still there, and I couldn't help but agree to have her along. Gathering up my bag and my book, we set out.

Heading towards the sunflower field the day before had brought me surprisingly far south of the village. The others had already woken up and headed on, leaving me and Daiyousei alone... except for Yuuka, who thankfully did nothing but give us a long glare until we were out of sight, likely just content to have her field mostly to herself again. Aside from some brief encounters with a few fairies, the long walk along the grassy plain was uneventful. However, it was late evening by the time we finally reached the shadows of the mountain, and we agreed to camp at its base.

The next morning, I woke to find Daiyousei again watching me, but from distinctly further off this time. I tilted my head as I rolled over in my sleeping bag. "Have you been watching all night...?" I asked.

Daiyousei blinked. "Sure. How else could I warn you if something dangerous appeared in the night?" She paused, tapping her cheek. "Not that much is likely to in this region, but..."

As I watched, I noticed a second fairy flying a short way behind her, playing with what looked an awful lot like a bra. This new fairy was dressed all in white, with a red jagged line running along the hem of her dress and shawl, and had long blonde hair and cute blue eyes. "Hello," I said cautiously to her.

The newcomer giggled and fluttered a short ways off. Daiyousei smiled. "Chitose, this is Lily White. She's a fairy tasked with announcing the coming of spring to all of Gensokyo."

I nodded, shifting a little in my bag. "Hello, Lily... um... why are you playing with a, well..." I didn't think I really needed to finish the question.

Daiyousei suddenly began to giggle. "Chitose... doesn't it look familiar...?"

I blinked, then looked towards my obviously ransacked bag, and then down at myself... then tugged the string tight around my neck. "Daiyousei..."

The fairy giggled softly. "Yes, Chitose?"

I wriggled my way upright in my bag, frowning. "You realize, of course, that this means war," I deadpanned, hopping after her as she suddenly took off while giggling madly.

The two fairies led me on a playful chase all around our campsite, though naturally I found myself at a pretty heavy disadvantage, being both unable to fly like the other two and bound to my bag. Eventually, my foot caught on the book and I fell heavily on my face, wincing. Daiyousei paused and fluttered slowly down to me, tilting her head. "Are you all right...?" she asked.

I nodded, shifting a little. "It's starting to get a little old, though," I murmured.

Lily suddenly darted down towards the book with a giggle, and I quickly tried to throw myself over it. Daiyousei caught the other fairy by the sleeve. "Lily, that's enough," she said softly. "Let's just give the things back now, all right?"

Lily blinked. "What was the point of the prank if we're just going to give everything back?" she pointed out with a pout.

Daiyousei giggled, sitting primly on my back. "To make Chitose get flustered and hop around in a sleeping bag trying to catch two fairies, of course," she said, fluttering her wings. "C'mon, please Lily? You've got to get back to your rounds anyway..."

Lily fluttered off again with a pout. Daiyousei looked down at me, tilting her head at the book poking out from beneath my chest. "So... why so protective of your book, anyway...?" she asked. "What is it?"

I blinked. "I'm... not really sure myself," I said, slowly sitting up in my bag and looking down at it. "I mean... technically it's not mine... it's one of Patchouli's that I found abandoned in the forest..."

Daiyousei blinked, and then giggled. "One of Marisa's thefts, no doubt..." She tilted her head. "Why do you have it, then?"

I smiled a little. "I found it right after you left me a few nights back," I pointed out. "That night Cirno was on the warpath?"

Daiyousei rolled her eyes and nodded. I chuckled. "Anyway," I continued, "After that, I showed it to Alice, and she said that I should hold on to it for a while." I shook my head. "I still don't know why..."

Daiyousei nodded again, giggling as Lily fluttered back into view and dropped my underclothes in a heap on top of my bag. "Well, I'm sure she had a reason," she said lightly. "Alice may be withdrawn sometimes, but she's not the sort to act maliciously."

I tilted my head, inching my way over to the clothes and ducking inside of my bag to dress in privacy. "You know Alice?" I managed to call in between my exertions.

Daiyousei blinked. "Of course I do... she lives in the Forest of Magic as well, after all... it's the same with Marisa, and of course Cirno and the Scarlet crew..."

I giggled a little as I emerged. "A bit more crowded of a forest than you'd expect, huh?" I teased, gathering my things.

Daiyousei giggled. Up ahead, Lily must have decided it was time to resume her "rounds", because as we watched her flying off, she suddenly let off a burst of red-and-white rings, culminating in a dazzling display of red and blue danmaku that made my eyes hurt to look at. "... I thought you said fairies weren't as powerful as youkai..." I murmured.

Daiyousei rolled her eyes. "Trust me, you'll agree with that statement once you've seen some of the more powerful players around here," she said lightly, flitting up to my side as I shouldered my pack and gathered the book into my arms once more.

The mountain rose above us, stretching towards the clouds. It wasn't hard to see why most residents simply referred to this place as "the mountain" for short; there was nothing else to compare with it in Gensokyo. Daiyousei had warned me already about the tengu of the mountain being its sworn guardians, and that we must be very careful and respectful, so our progress was slow as the sun slowly rose far off to our right.

As we topped a small ridge, however, we came out of the pines and entered a wide clearing, the center covered over in a wide circle by what I could only describe as a gigantic hatch. As we approached, the sections of the hatch inched upwards, and steam boiled out in a geyser that rose to the heavens. Daiyousei stared. "What on earth is that...?"

I shook my head. "I don't know..." I knelt next to one of the giant hinges, examining it. "It looks like something we have in our stories about space... I wonder what on earth could be down there?" I glanced up at the still-rising sun. "Daiyousei... want to wait and see if someone comes that we could ask?"

Daiyousei blinked. "It certainly would be the best way of finding out," she agreed, floating down to hover by my shoulder as I sat down, settling the book in my lap and slowly opening it. "What are you up to now, Chitose?"

I looked up at her. "Trying to see if I can make any sense out of this at all," I said. "Alice said there were some form of fire spells in here, but I'm a bit curious..."

Daiyousei smiled. "You're not likely to get much out of it... generally a magician's grimoires can only be understood by a stronger magician, and Patchouli Knowledge is an incredibly powerful one..."

I chuckled. "Well, if Marisa can..."

Daiyousei rolled her eyes. "Marisa is one of the most powerful magicians I've ever encountered in all of Gensokyo, and was trained by one of the few people that Reimu actually fears..." She smiled. "Magical potential or not, there's quite a gap before you could compare yourself to Marisa, or even Alice really..."

I smiled and continued flipping the pages. She was right, of course, but there was something about the book that drew me in regardless...

My reverie was rather abruptly shattered when something whistled through the air just by my ear. Daiyousei gave a yelp and flailed for a moment before vanishing.

"Familiar down," growled a voice in my ear.

As I spun to face the source of the voice, the first thing I saw was a huge round shield emblazoned with a single maple leaf inches from my face. An instant later, I was knocked sprawling, and an instant after that, the book was torn from my hand, and I felt a cold sensation on my neck that I realized fairly quickly was the point of a sword pressing into it.

The owner of that sword and shield was now glaring down at me, one foot planted on my chest as she held the blade to my neck, deep brown eyes boring into mine. She was dressed all in white, with an inky black skirt falling to her ankles, though her feet bore only simple white socks. Her ears, however, were pointed and covered in white fur, shaped like that of a wolf; along with her wolf's tail, I was able to identify her as the Chinese variety of tengu. "So, little intruder... just what does a magician want in an area like this?" she growled out.

I blinked up at her. "M-magician?" I tried to shift out from under the wolf-tengu's pin. "I'm not intruding! Wh-who are you, anyway...?"

The girl's lip raised almost like a dog raising its hackles. "I find you standing over the shaft's cover holding an open grimoire and accompanied by a fairy familiar, and you try and tell me you're not a magician?" She shifted her sword a little, the cold point tracing over my neck. "My, my... the intruder's got a bit of nerve, too... coming here and demanding the name of the guard who accosted her..."

I flushed a little, raising my hands and holding very still. "Y-you're right... I'm sorry... m-my name is Chitose Izumo..."

The girl tilted her head lightly. "Momiji Inubashira, one of the tengu charged with guarding this mountain by Lord Tenma himself," she said gravely. "Now, answer my question, Chitose Izumo. What are you doing here with that grimoire?"

I shivered as the point continued to rise up and down in time with my breathing. "I was just curious as to what that cover is... what's down beneath it... I-I was waiting for someone to come along who I could ask, and I was j-just looking through the grimoire while I w-waited..."

Momiji frowned, though she made no move to strike. "I knew it... a spy..." she murmured.

I blinked. "I-I'm not a spy!" I protested. "S-sanae Kochiya asked me to come to visit her on the mountain... I j-just came across this place on my way up..."

Momiji blinked, perplexed. "Sanae...?" She shook her head. "Sanae left early this morning to go resolve that new incident Reimu was talking about... in any case, I can't let a person wander around the mountain unspoken for." She tightened her grip on the blade. "As a guardian here, I order you to leave the mountain, or I'll remove you by force. Your corpse, if need be."

As I lay there, fear keeping me even from speaking, another voice suddenly broke in. "H-hey! You big b-bully! You leave my aneechan alone!"

Momiji blinked and started to turn, then yelped and stumbled forward off of me as a stream of tiny flames slammed into her back. Growling slightly, the tengu whirled to face the newcomer. I managed to sit up, and stared as well.

The voice had come from my grimoire, which was now hovering in the air and opened to the exact center page. From out of the book, as if it were some kind of magical portal, emerged the top half of a young boy with messy red hair hanging down to his shoulders. Frightened violet eyes peeked out from under the mop of hair, and his clenched fists were all but hidden under the sleeves of the oversized white shirt he wore. "L-leave aneechan alone!" the boy demanded again, his book hovering closer to Momiji.

The tengu snorted. "I knew it! A magician spy and her familiars come to spy on the facility... well, I won't allow it!" She raised her shield and spun her arm in a wide circle, and suddenly flurries of danmaku surged out from the wolf-girl, straight lines racing out from her like wide spokes to hem in the boy before massive, solid curves of shots, forming a shape like the magatama jewel, raced out to strike at him.

The boy yelped, but began to dodge through the spokes ahead of the racing sixes, and began to release a pinwheel of the same fire danmaku he had used before, four arms forming a beautiful spiral around him. As he moved, he began to collect extra flames around himself, and suddenly launched a group of them aimed directly at Momiji. As for myself, I was forced to lie flat on the ground, able to raise my head just enough to see the firestorm of magic raging just above me.

Forcing the boy to move seemed to be working against Momiji; as he shifted, the spiral's density began to shift, growing sparse in some areas but denser in others. Copuled with the fact that Momiji's attacks were completely unaimed, it perhaps wasn't a surprise when after about the fifth wave, the tengu found herself hemmed in and was knocked head over heels by the flaming bullets. As she righted herself, she held aloft her blade, the other hand slipping the shield onto her back to pull out a talisman. "Fine then, kiddies... but I'm the guardian here, and playtime is over!" I realized a moment later that the talisman was yet another Spell Card, just as Momiji yelled out, "Mountain Nomad: Expellee's Canaan!"

The boy frowned. "Then... I'll just have to use the strongest spell that Miss Patchouli wrote into my pages..." he said softly, and raised his hands, a torn page materializing between them. "Prometheus Sign: Agni Blaze!"

The ensuing patterns were absolutely breathtaking. Momiji began to release spokes of bullets again, pale salmon shots moving out in straight lines and tracking the boy's position. These were much larger than the ones I had seen before, though, long and thick like the darker grains in a serving of pilaf. As the boy moved to dodge between them, Momiji began to release more bullets, chains of small yellow circles that rushed out in a massive, impenetrable wall. The tengu released three of them at once, each wall taking the shape of a small circle nestled up against the side of a much larger circle; I found myself wondering if it was some sort of tengu emblem, or perhaps Momiji's personal seal.

The boy, on the other hand, seemed to have created a "center" that remained still even as he dodged about, keeping his own attack constant. A quartet of slim red lasers shot out from the middle, rotating slowly around against the clock's hands. Running in the opposite direction, the boy released clouds of his signature flame danmaku, and the fire flowed outwards, clumping together at times and at others drifting out in dense clouds towards his tengu opponent. To finish, small red arrowhead shots began to rain out radially in all directions from the center. As the two moved, the lasers began to speed up, almost like a clock ticking faster and faster.

The two had set up their patterns, and quickly moved to dodge. The boy proved surprisingly fast, hovering within his book and darting nimbly through those spokes Momiji had created, skating around the yellow circles at an incredibly small margin. A few even seemed to catch his sleeve, though this didn't seem enough to disrupt his pattern. Momiji, on the other hand, found herself forced to move faster and faster through the zephyr of flames, unable to pass through the sweeping lasers behind her or before her as she dodged in nimbly around the clouds, forced many times to slow up as they clumped up again and drawing dangerously close to the laser behind...

And I, of course, couldn't move a muscle for fear of slamming into seven different bullets at once, able only to lie on my back and watch as the danmaku wove and spun above me.

Momiji grinned as her spokes began to move faster to track the boy, and he found himself caught between two of them with a new emblem pattern bearing down on him rapidly. "Gotcha!" the tengu crowed, spinning through a closing group of flames, only to run into a lone arrowhead that had streaked down immediately in front of her exit. Momiji's shots burst into sparks an inch before the boy's face, and with a sigh of relief he released his own spellcard. "Th-there..." he panted. "N-now... you leave her alone, you big bully... she's telling the truth..."

Momiji groaned, twirling her sword. "Listen, kid, this is our mountain. I'm not about to let a totally unknown intruder wander around up here, especially if she's powerful enough to have a kid like you on their payroll..."

The boy floated to my side, looking worried, as I sat up, and suddenly a familiar voice broke in on our standoff. "Hey, Momiji... what's going on here?"

I blinked as I saw Utsuho appearing from the far side of the hatch. Momiji blinked. "Oh, Utsuho... relax, just some intruders..."

Utsuho blinked, then flew over to us with a big grin. "Momiji, you goof, that's not an intruder. That's Chitose... Sanae invited her..."

Momiji blinked. "Sanae really did...?" She frowned. "Well, it's not like anyone told me about it... and Sanae's not here to vouch for her..."

I paused. "About that... you said she left this morning? But I thought Marisa was going to ask her two nights ago, after the concert?"

Momiji nodded. "They only picked up the trail of the treasure ship this morning, though," she said. "That's when she set out, with Marisa and Reimu." She looked to Utsuho. "Since you seem to know her..."

Utsuho grinned. "Course I'll vouch for her. I dunno who the kid is, though... but if he's with her, it should be fine..."

Momiji frowned. "Well... I'm still kinda worried about letting a magician of her caliber wander around the mountain alone... and I have to go back on patrol, I can't escort her..."

Utsuho blinked, and then giggled. "Magician? Chitose's from the outside world, she doesn't have any kind of significant powers yet..."

Momiji blinked. "Th-then what was that familiar I put down?" she protested.

"That would be me..." Daiyousei had finally returned, hovering over and leaning quietly back-to-back against me. "Daiyousei, greater fairy of the Misty Lake... I'm not a familiar, as Chitose tried to tell you quite a few times..."

Momiji bowed quietly. "I'm sorry, you three... it's my duty to keep people off of the mountain, but if you have Sanae and Utsuho's permission, I certainly can't stop you..."

Daiyousei nodded. "It's fine... I'm a fairy anyways, you couldn't have killed me if you tried..." She glanced up at Momiji. "I'm just accompanying Chitose on her journey... I don't intend to cause the tengu any trouble..."

Momiji nodded quietly. "And you?" she asked quietly of the boy.

The boy fidgeted, clinging to my arm. "I-I'm not going anywhere that's not with aneechan..." he mumbled. "S-so you don't have to worry about her."

This was the second time the boy had called me "big sister", and I looked curiously down at him. Momiji nodded again. "All right, you three... stay together, and don't cause people problems..." She smiled a bit. "Just a routine thing, but I gotta say it... patrolling this mountain is my duty after all."

I nodded, then blinked as I felt Daiyousei shivering quietly at my back. As I turned, I saw a red line running down across her shoulder, and a similar line of torn fabric along her dress. "I thought fairies could heal themselves...?" I asked.

Daiyousei nodded. "I think I must be out of my element..." she said quietly. "Or something along those lines... being manifestations of nature, we heal best while close to that. Cirno is strongest and heals quickest in the winter, Sunny Milk heals best in bright sunlight, and so on... if there's not a lot of it, we won't heal as quickly..."

Utsuho tilted her head. "Weird... there's a lake nearby..." she said, then paused. "Maybe it's got something to do with the reactor... or maybe that steam we let off earlier..."

I stared. "Reactor? That's what's under that hatch?"

Utsuho grinned. "Mhm. We've got a reactor set up down there... oh, don't you worry," she added, seeing my near-panic. "The reactor's really well-shielded. We've got some of the best minds in Gensokyo helping out on this project... speaking of which..."

The raven suddenly grinned and threw her arm around something unseen at her side, which let out a surprised yelp and started to shimmer in her grip. "Thought the excitement would get you to come out and peek," Utsuho teased. "C'mon, say hello, silly..."

The girl who had become visible by now blushed and fidgeted in the one-armed hug Utsuho was giving her. She was dressed all in blue, a long dress with nearly a dozen pockets lining the hem and a pair of wading boots covering her feet. Light blue hair in a pair of cute beaded ponytails peeked out from under a hunter-green cap with yet another snake embossed on the front. She fidgeted with a cattail she carried as she looked at us, and the green backpack she wore for some reason put me in mind of a turtle. "H-h-hello..." she whispered.

Utsuho giggled. "Aww, c'mon... give 'em a better welcome than that..." She smiled. "This shy little thing is Nitori. She's one of the best engineers on the mountain. She's been helping me a lot lately with stuff." She indicated me. "Nitori, this is Chitose. She's a human from the outside world."

I smiled a little, standing carefully and holding out my hand. "Nitori, it's nice to meet you... I'm an engineer too, actually... well, I was training to be one, anyway..."

Nitori's hand held mine incredibly gingerly. "H-hello..." she repeated. "I-I'm Nitori Kawashiro... a kappa from higher up the mountain..."

Utsuho smiled. "Anyway, Nitori... you're better with magical effects and stuff like that... is there any chance the reactor would make it harder for fairies to heal themselves?"

Nitori blinked, peering at Daiyousei with interest. "Hm... well... it's possible the reactor is letting out something that disrupts magical energy... or natural energy at the very least..."

I looked at her. "L-like radiation?"

Nitori shook her head. "No... we have the reactor shielded against leaks, and we have alarms to detect them..." She paused. "Though... Utsuho, you vented it earlier, right...?"

Utsuho blinked. "Yeah, but the steam carries maybe a micro-Sievert in the entire venting... how could that do anything?"

Nitori shrugged. "It's a whole new field," she pointed out. "Who knows what it could do?"

Utsuho nodded. "You're right... even a little could disrupt the patterns in the local nature..." She scratched her head. "Fairies are born from natural phenomenon, so if trace radiation disrupts the surrounding area, it could interfere..."

I blinked. "T-trace radiation...?"

Utsuho laughed. "A very, very tiny bit. You get more in one of those X-rays that Sanae told me about," she pointed out. "Heck, you'd get more exposure to radiation eating a pair of bananas than from standing next to the steam vent."

Momiji blinked. "Bananas are... radioactive?"

Utsuho nodded. "Bananas contain potassium, and any given atom of potassium has a slight chance of spontaneously becoming a radioisotope. So in any given sample of potassium, a very small number of atoms will be radioactive... but like I said, it's very small."

Nitori nodded. "The venting is smaller, but even trace amounts might damage the interaction between the magic that gives birth to you, Daiyousei, and the natural environment that you're a manifestation of."

The conversation had left everyone but me behind at this point, and Utsuho giggled. "Don't worry about it... it's all specific stuff about the nuclear power anyway. Point is, the steam is totally safe to humans, but it might impede fairies' healing... hm..." She scratched her head. "It might be something the reactor's putting out, too... we really have no idea what sorts of magical energy a fusion reaction puts out." She grinned, hugging Nitori a little tighter to her. "C'mon, let's go figure it out, Nitori. Besides, Tensoku needs some work done on it anyway... again..."

Before Nitori could protest, the hell-raven flew off to the other side of the cover and vanished underground. I blinked. "Tensoku...?"

Momiji shook her head. "Ask Lady Suwako about that," she said softly. "It's not my information to give." She sighed. "I really am sorry about giving you such a rough time..."

I nodded. "I guess I must've looked pretty suspicious to someone tasked with guarding an underground reactor..."

Momiji rolled her eyes. "Immensely," she said quietly, turning. "In any case, I need to get back to patrolling..."

I nodded. "Before you go..." I looked upwards. "I doubt I'm reaching the shrine today... Do you know where the Aki sisters have their shrine? I promised to stop and visit them on my way..."

Momiji blinked. "It's a bit of a walk from here..." she said. "And I really don't have the time to guide you... I know where it is from here, but directions don't mean much in the forests..."

Yet another new voice broke in on us. "Aww, did I miss the excitement?"

Momiji looked up, blinking as another crow tengu descended towards us. This one had long brown hair tied up in pigtails, a white shirt similar to Aya's but with a black tie, and a purple-and-black checkered skirt that left a good strip of her legs exposed before reaching the dark socks just below her knees, topped with a pair of red geta sandals. Her cranberry-colored eyes twinkled at us as she landed, smirking and fiddling with something that looked an awful lot like a cameraphone. "So, this is why Momiji was up in arms, huh?" she asked.

Momiji nodded. "I thought they were intruders... turns out Sanae really did ask them up. She says they met at the Hakurei festival a few days ago."

The tengu girl nodded, fiddling with the black band tied around her arm like a press armband. "Well, at least Aya didn't get here first... dunno what she's up to..."

Momiji rolled her eyes a little. "I imagine she's following someone else right now... could be hoping for pictures of the latest incident..."

The girl laughed. "Yeah, maybe..." She extended a hand. "Anyway, I'm Hatate Himekaidou, reporter and publisher of Kakashi Spirit News... and who might you be?"

I shook it gently. "Chitose Izumo... spirited-away human," I said, shrugging a little and eyeing her camera. "You're a reporter too? Like Aya?"

Hatate nodded a bit. "I don't get her appeal, really... some of the things she writes are totally preposterous..."

Momiji chuckled a little. "Well, give interviewing a try for once?" she suggested. "Try writing about something new for once..." She paused. "Actually, can I ask you a favor?"

Hatate blinked. "Sure thing... what's up?"

Momiji sheathed her blade. "I need to get back to patrolling... I've been idle for too long; Lord Tenma will probably be mad at me as it is. But Chitose here needs a guide to the Aki Shrine... can you take her there?"

Hatate blinked. "Um... the Aki shrine..." She fiddled with her camera for a moment, then nodded. "There we go..."

I peeked over her shoulder, and saw a picture of the shrine from above. Hatate grinned and closed the phone with a snap. "All right, I think I can manage that path... c'mon, Chitose." She started to fly off through the trees, and I hurried after her.

Daiyousei tugged my sleeve, and I looked back to see the boy who had come out of the book hovering hesitantly. "Um... aneechan..." he said quietly. "Is it... really okay if I come along with you?"

I blinked, then moved back to him and scooped him into my arms with a smile, careful not to close the book. "Of course you can, little sakan..." I murmured.

The boy blinked up at me. "Sakan...?"

I nodded. "It means 'kindling fire'." I giggled. "I know you've got big powerful fire abilities, but I can't see you as anything but a cute little flame..."

The boy shook his head up at me, holding quietly to my arm as I started to walk, holding him still. "No, I mean... is that my name? Sakan?"

I looked down at him, blinking. "You don't... have a name?" I paused, running a finger over the spine of his book. "Who... exactly are you, anyway? And why do you keep calling me aneechan?"

The boy blinked up at me. "I'm a grimoire from Miss Patchouli's library... but Flandre was being noisy and scary one day and Koa accidentally put me back in the wrong place... then I ended up falling between the shelves and getting stuck..." He paused. "Oh... Koakuma is one of Miss Patchouli's servants... she's got devil features, but she's kinda cute..."

I blinked. "Wait... stuck..." I looked down at him. "For how long...?"

The boy shook his head. "I dunno... a long, long time... it was a very long while before I somehow knew I was 'awake'..."

I nodded. "So... you're a tsukumogami...?"

The boy nodded again. "Yeah, like that Medicine girl you met..." He fidgeted. "I... I did see everything, even though I was hiding in my book... I'm sorry for tricking you, aneechan..."

I smiled a little. "It's okay. You wanted to make sure you could trust me, right?"

The boy nodded, looking up at me. "Miss Patchouli never did find me... but one day, Miss Marisa snuck in and they ended up knocking over the shelf I was stuck behind. She figured I must be a really important book, and before I knew it, I was in a bag with all the other books she'd borrowed that day and being carried off."

I hugged him a little. "Oh... I'm sorry..."

The boy blinked. "What'cha mean? I'm really grateful to Miss Marisa... she took me away from Miss Patchouli so I'd be safe..."

I nodded. "So... why were you lying on the ground in the Forest of Magic?"

The boy fidgeted. "Well... Miss Marisa was gonna take me to show to Alice... and I figured she might notice I was a tsukumogami, even though Miss Marisa didn't... so I got scared and slipped out of her bag." He fidgeted. "But I trust you, aneechan... I don't think I would've showed myself today if I couldn't..."

I nodded, smiling and ruffling his hair a little. Daiyousei giggled. "Ah... so that's why Ran didn't come right away..."

I blinked. "You think Yukari was trying to get Sakan to show himself?" I paused. "It would... make sense... if she thought he would reveal himself to try and protect me... b-but I mean, that was against Yuuka... she would've just hurt him..."

The boy looked up at me. "So... is that my name, then?"

I looked down. "Marisa and Patchouli never named you?"

He shook his head. "They didn't even know I was a tsukumogami... Alice did, which is probably why she told you to bring me along, but..."

I nodded. "So, you need a name, then..." I smiled. "I kinda like Sakan, what about you?"

Daiyousei giggled softly. "It suits him, I think..."

Sakan nodded. "Okay then, aneechan..."

I smiled. "And now you need a surname... hm..." I smiled. "Well... something else warm and sweet, I think... how about... Irori?"

Sakan tilted his head. "What's that mean...?"

Daiyousei smiled softly. "It means 'hearth', Sakan... I think that's a lovely surname for you..."

Hatate glanced back, smiling a little. "So... are you a newborn youkai, Sakan?"

Sakan nodded. "Pretty much," he said softly. "I mean, I awoke a few years ago, but all I really did was hide in the library, then hide in Marisa's house... Chitose is the first person I ever revealed myself to... though I bet Alice realized it..."

Hatate nodded, and then pulled back a branch carefully. "Well, this is it... Aki Shrine," she said with a smile. "Built a few centuries back as an attempt to establish closer ties between the village and the native goddesses of the mountain, abandoned a century or two later. Never actually had a miko either, not that native kami particularly need one."

The shrine wasn't nearly in as bad a shape as the outside world's Hakurei Shrine had been, but it was bad enough. With no shrine maiden, few visitors, and even fewer people giving faith, vines had worked their way up the building's walls. A beautiful pond nestled directly behind the main building had been overtaken and choked by dead and dying leaves, and brittle, crumbling leaves were strewn over the floor of the interior. I sighed a little and looked over at Hatate. "Can I ask one more favor?"

The tengu blinked. "What is it?"

I looked back to the shrine. "I need a broom at the very least... this isn't going to be possible to fix with bare hands..."

Hatate blinked, pondered, and then smiled. "Hm... well... Make you a deal. Let me have an interview with you three, and promise you won't say a word to Aya, and I'll get you all the tools you need..." She smiled a bit. "Bet those two are going to be really happy when they see it..."

I nodded, and as she flew off, I drew out my kerchief and tied it over my hair again. "Okay..." I murmured, sliding up my sleeves and striding into the shrine. "Let's get started..."

 


	7. Fifth Night ~ Awakening

By the time evening had fallen, the shrine was looking far better. I'd managed to sweep out the interior entirely, and between Sakan and Daiyousei the vines clinging to the outside were looking a lot more like ivy on an old building and far less like the overgrown "abandoned" shrine that had greeted me earlier that same day. The sunset was making further work difficult, however, and with a sigh I relegated the choked pond behind to my mental "to-do" list. Honestly, I wasn't even sure how I could begin to clean out so much leaf litter.

Daiyousei fluttered down to my side and landed rather quickly, panting. "I think this is all we can do for today," she murmured.

I nodded, glancing up to see Sakan floating down towards us with one last vine in his hand. "So, we going to get moving?" I asked.

Sakan blinked. "Can't we just stay here?" he asked, violet eyes puzzled.

I shook my head. "The goddesses aren't back yet... we can't very well sleep in their shrine without asking their permission first..."

Daiyousei frowned. "But it's getting dark..." she pointed out. "We can't just go wandering in the woods at night... there's plenty here besides the kappa and tengu..."

Sakan smiled. "Dark's no problem with me around," he said, raising his hands. "Miss Patchouli wrote more spells in my pages than just that one spellcard, after all..." A light grew above his hands, and soon a small ball of flickering flames was hovering in his cupped palms, lighting a surprisingly wide radius around us. "See?" he said, beaming. "The spells are on my pages, so I can perform them... I might not have as much magic power as Miss Patchouli, but I can do stuff like this easy."

Daiyousei nodded, fluttering her wings tiredly. She was clearly unused to working on the shrine like this, and didn't have Sakan's boundless energy as a newborn youkai... after a moment, I knelt down and helped her gently onto my back, smiling warmly back at her. "Just hang on, okay?" I murmured as we started to head upwards along the mountain again.

The night was much warmer than the one I'd endured when I'd found myself at Eieintei. I smiled a bit as I remembered that night, fingering the material of the kimono Reisen had made me. Neither Sakan nor I wanted to stop, so we continued up the gentle slope, passing the hatch once again, which was open and releasing a slow, steady rise of steam. Beyond that, the trees opened up again, revealing a long, green slope upwards, the forests around the mountain's peak resuming above. Morning would likely see us at the summit if we could press on at least partway up the slope.

About halfway up, there was a sudden loud sound overhead, like a wind and a lion's roar rolled into one, and a heavy gust nearly knocked me down and sent Sakan spiraling. I looked up to see a teal blur clinging to something very large and metallic curving back towards us, the roaring sound growing louder as it headed back towards us. "O-okay! Too much, too much!" a voice shouted out from up above.

The blur passed overhead again, and I quickly caught Daiyousei to me to keep the fairy from getting blown away, while Sakan retreated back into the book, trembling. "C-c'mon, why isn't it releasing...?" the voice was saying now, and I looked up again. Daiyousei blinked, peering cautiously up out of my arms. "That's that kappa girl we saw earlier..." she murmured.

I blinked. "Nitori? What's she doing?" I asked.

Daiyousei shook her head. "Pulling on some sort of cord... she looks really frantic... I don't think she's in control of that... whatever it is..."

I frowned, holding her a little closer. "Nitori, what's going on?"

Nitori was curving back towards us now. "Th-the parachute won't deploy!" she called down. "I can't make it slow down! And... and I don't wanna let it fly off and hit something..."

I nodded, looking up. The thing she was clinging to was some sort of engine, maybe... and the parachute that was supposed to stop her wasn't working... I pondered for a moment as to what might be going wrong. Maybe there was something jammed... I had a feeling that Gensokyo technology didn't involve explosive bolts to jettison a panel, like the Apollo spacecraft had used on reentry. Probably something like a latch designed to open the container and let the parachute fall out and catch the wind...

As I thought, I found myself picturing the container and the latch more and more clearly, visualizing each pull of the cord Nitori was frantically yanking on... but the latch wasn't lifting enough, for some reason, and the panel was held fast closed, trapping the parachute inside. I found myself closing my eyes to visualize the problem even more clearly, and then, as I imagined the latch sliding open instead, the picture in my head changed to match, and suddenly I heard, even over the noise of Nitori's engine, a loud, clear, click.

I looked up and opened my eyes in wonder. The panel had indeed opened up, and a huge square of blue cloth emblazoned with the same frog design that adorned Sanae's hair clip tumbled out. The last rays of the setting sun had caught Nitori now, and I stared dumbfounded as her contraption was lit up, a long thick cylinder still straining against the parachute, one end open wide to release the rushing air and heat waves the device produced. As it slowed, Nitori fiddled with a few controls and it finally drifted down and landed with a heavy thud nearby, sliding and digging a fairly heavy furrow in the grass as it did. Nitori pouted as she stood, looking over the device. "That didn't go nearly as well as planned..."

I came up beside her and gave it a closer look, the kappa's attention totally on the now-open panel as she fiddled with the cord. "What is it...?" I asked.

Nitori leaned in to look a little more closely. "It's a turbine... Sanae says they're used to make things move... I thought it could help people fly faster..." She scratched her head. "Sanae was talking about something called a jet pack, but I think those are supposed to be smaller than this..." She gave the cord a few yanks, and then groaned. "No wonder... the metal on the latch is way too stiff. It won't lift enough to release the parachute..."

I blinked, laying a hand gently on the side just beside the panel. What she had described was exactly the problem I had envisioned in my mind... and then, as I had changed the image... I focused for a moment again, visualizing just the latch this time. Slowly, I imagined it lifting...

Nitori blinked as the latch slowly lifted itself and released once again. "W-wait a second, I didn't put any moving parts in there... what's going on?" she murmured, and then looked up to me, wide-eyed. "Are you... doing that?" she asked.

I stared at the latch as my focus faded out and it slid back down into position. Somehow, I had managed to make that little piece move... "Yes," I murmured softly, shaking my head and murmuring to myself, "Could this have been what Yukari meant by 'potential'...?"

Nitori rubbed her chin. "So... you can manipulate metal...?" she murmured. "But... wait, didn't Utsuho say you were from Outside?"

I nodded. "I don't think it's metal in general... I had to visualize the whole latch and panel to get it to release before..."

Nitori nodded. "Oh... that was you before, too, when the parachute finally deployed?" She nodded. "So... I guess your ability must be something like the power to manipulate machines... well, it would make sense... hidden abilities seem to be linked to talents people have Outside..." She smiled. "Like Sanae developing her spiritual powers when she came here... humans seem to really..." She broke off and paled a little bit, as if noticing me for the first time... considering how intently she'd been regarding the machine, I had a feeling she pretty much only just had.

I paused. "Nitori, what's wrong?"

Nitori let out a tiny squeak and blushed. "N-nothing at all," she protested, burying her face in her work again. "Um... let's see... need to make it a lot less powerful..."

Sakan floated over, looking distinctly dizzy, and put a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to be shy or scared around aneechan," he whispered. "She's a good human, promise..."

Nitori fidgeted for several seconds before answering. "I-I'm not scared of you... I don't think you're a bad person... I-I mean, Utsuho pretty clearly likes you..."

I nodded. "So, what's wrong then...?"

Nitori fidgeted. "N-nothing!" she protested, fiddling with the engine again. Then she paused. "But, um... it does sorta... get cold out at night..."

Daiyousei tilted her head. "It's warm out tonight, though... and the nights are getting warmer..."

Nitori nodded. "B-but it's not that late yet... look, the shrine's still in the light..." She pointed towards the peak, where a little bit of deep red sunlight could be seen resting on the treetops. "It'll get colder... so... um..."

Sakan giggled a little. "Are you offering us somewhere to stay, Nitori?" he asked.

Nitori flushed a little, then slowly calmed down and nodded. "M-my house isn't far from here... and you helped me a lot, Chitose... so... if you guys want to..." She paused. "Utsuho's staying there anyway... I don't mind some extra company..."

I smiled. "That'd be great," I said. "Can you lead the way...?"

Nitori nodded. "C-c'mon..." she said, glancing to the sky. "... Let's hurry... in case the shrine maiden decides this is an incident and takes a break from the current one to try and deal with us..." She took to the air again, leaving the engine behind as we hurried to stay behind her. Daiyousei settled on to my back again as we trekked off towards the north now, along the slope instead of up it.

Sakan floated up beside me as we walked. "Y'know, aneechan... now that you're starting to get your powers, we should probably start finding someone to help you fly..."

I blinked. "Fly...? N-now that's just crazy..."

Nitori shook her head. "Sanae was flying a few days after she got to Gensokyo," she said, smiling just a bit now. "Really, if you can do something like make my parachute deploy, flying's going to be a snap..."

Daiyousei giggled a little bit. "So, why do you need a... turbine... anyway? I know you can fly..."

Nitori blinked. "It's supposed to be so people can fly faster," she said. "Right now it takes even Aya a few hours to get from up here down to the Shrine, or the underground... if I can get it working, though, we could cross all of Gensokyo in a few minutes." She paused, and giggled a little. "Though... mostly it's just so Sanae has some neat stuff to play with... and it might help some of the humans in the village get around... if they trust the stuff at all..." Her face fell a little.

I nodded a little. "So... mostly it's just something fun to work on?" I asked.

Nitori nodded a little. "Yeah... but, I guess I put too much power into the turbine..."

I nodded. "They use something like that to power jets..." I pointed out. "Some of which go faster than sound itself..."

Nitori blinked. "... I don't want it to go quite that fast..." she murmured. "Guess I really had better slim it down..."

I nodded. "Plus, jet-packs as humans envision them are worn like backpacks," I pointed out, tapping hers lightly. "So the engine would be sitting back here..."

Nitori nodded. "Probably going to have to work some magic into the design, then..." she mused, and lapsed into silence.

It was another half hour or so of travel before we reached the place, Utsuho sitting out front and lighting up at the sight of us. "Hey, Chitose... you staying over too?" She smiled. "Well, c'mon in guys..."

I blinked, looking around. "Come on in... where...?" I paused, and then suddenly blinked as I suddenly made out the outline of the door, barely visible... it seemed that the kappa's house blended in just as well as she had done earlier, somehow... Nitori slipped past me and slid open the door, bowing lightly to each of us. "Come in, please," she said quietly.

For a moment, I paused. After what Nitori had said about humans not trusting her, Daisuke's words returned to me... and here I was about to enter a youkai's house. I hesitated for only a moment, though, before stepping inside. True, there had been some truly wicked and dangerous ones, like Yuuka, but Nitori I felt sure I could trust.

The rooms inside were fairly simply furnished, functional but cozy. As I entered and looked around, Nitori was already busily drawing out some spare futons. "I-I don't really have visitors much... sorry..." she murmured. "I don't really have anything set up..."

I nodded and glanced past her, blinking as I caught sight of the glint of metal from the back. I stood at the door, peering carefully in but not entering, and my eyes widened as I caught sight of quite a few tools, blueprints dotting the walls around. "Is this your workshop, Nitori?" I asked.

Nitori nodded, fidgeting a little as she beckoned me back to the main room. "Yes... Utsuho and I were working on a new device to analyze the reactor... see if it's putting out anything besides radiation that could harm fairies and the like..."

I nodded. "It looks really neat. You clearly take care of your tools," I said. "And... well..." I paused. "I want to be an engineer too, but I was still in the middle of learning how when Yukari spirited me away..."

Nitori blinked. "You... want me to teach you...?" she asked, fidgeting. "R-really?"

I nodded. "Sure," I said. "Utsuho said you were the best around, right?"

Nitori blushed, but gave Utsuho a small smile. "Well, I don't know about that, but I've been at it a long time..."

Utsuho giggled and caught Nitori in a one-armed hug again. "Aww, don't be so modest," she teased. "Nitori here is the chief engineer on the Tensoku project."

I blinked; there was that word again. But, remembering Momiji's words, I let it slide, since apparently it was a secret. Nitori, meanwhile, flushed scarlet and then slowly vanished, only the faintest of a watery outline showing where she had stood. I blinked. "So... is that an invention too?" I asked cautiously. "It looks sort of like what humans envision a cloaking device as..."

Utsuho giggled and kept her grip tight, and I could vaguely see the outline shift as Nitori tried to wiggle free. "Nah, that's just a kappa ability," she said brightly. "Pretty neat though, huh?"

Sakan giggled. "Well, you didn't seem to have a hard time seeing her back at the hatch," he pointed out, and then pouted a little. "I sure can't..."

Daiyousei giggled softly. "Of course not. Certain types of youkai, especially birds, have especially powerful vision, and they can see through things like Nitori's camoflague... I can a little myself."

Nitori's voice came from that watery outline. "You can...? I mean, the tengu have really sharp eyes, especially Aya, and of course the oni can, but I didn't think fairies could..."

Daiyousei smiled. "Some of us can," she said. "Not strongly, mind you... all I really see is a vaguely girl-shaped patch of air that looks like it's filled with water..." She smiled. "Ever look up at the sky from underwater? You sort of look like that right now..."

Nitori nodded, slowly fading back into view. "Right... well, it does involve magic and light..." She fidgeted a bit. "Um... w-well, if you want to drop by and take a lesson every now and then, that would be okay..." She paused. "Would you be... willing to help me out in the workshop, sometimes? That ability of yours might really come in handy..."

Utsuho blinked. "Ability...?"

Nitori looked up at her. "Oh... Chitose has the ability to manipulate machines. Well, more accurately, she's developing it... she managed to make the latch for my parachute open when I couldn't get it to..."

Utsuho blinked, and then suddenly I was the one tucked fondly under Utsuho's arm, the hell-raven giggling wildly. "No way... Chitose, that's so cool!" she shouted, grinning.

I blinked. "This coming from a girl who has power over the sun's energy...?" I pointed out. "You're way cooler, Utsuho..."

Utsuho grinned and patted my shoulder. "Aww, c'mon, don't be so modest," she said. Then she giggled again. "You and Nitori make a pretty good pair, actually... you guys should definitely work together... I mean, you guys both like making stuff, and you're both modest about what you can do..."

Nitori blinked, and nodded slowly. "W-well, I mean... if you wanted to..." she said slowly.

I smiled. "Sure... though you might have to teach me some things before I can really start helping out..."

Nitori nodded a little. "So you'd be sort of like... an apprentice..." She tilted her head. "But, to a kappa...? Are you really okay with that?"

Utsuho blinked, and pouted a little. "How come you always think humans aren't gonna like you, Nitori?"

Nitori flushed and fidgeted. "I don't know _what_ they'd think of me..." she said slowly. "Besides Sanae, the only humans I really ever met were Reimu and Marisa... and, well..." She paused.

Utsuho finished her sentence. "And you only met Reimu once when the goddesses caused that incident, and Marisa is adorable but totally crazy?"

Nitori fidgeted. "S-something like that... Reimu's scary, really..." She paused. "Sorta my fault, though... I'm the one who tried to scare them into not going up the mountain..."

I tilted my head. "Why?"

Nitori blinked. "Cause it's kinda dangerous up here for humans," she said. "Of course, I didn't realize that Reimu's a lot more dangerous than anything that might've tried to attack her... I thought she was just a regular human, so I tried to get her to go back down, but... she was sorta insistent..." She paused. "Marisa's not really a bad person... we worked together once..."

Utsuho winced, and I had a feeling she was talking about the incident where the hell-raven had gotten her powers. "So..." I began. "You haven't really been around humans much, huh?"

Nitori shook her head. "Except for Sanae, but she's nice to everyone..."

I nodded, and then blinked as Sakan yawned, gently drawing the little book-youkai to me and giving him a cuddle. "Sleepy, huh?"

Sakan rubbed his eyes, hands still hidden in his sleeves as he did, and pouted. "No I'm not... I wanna stay up and talk with you guys more..."

Daiyousei had already fluttered down into the corner, stealing a pillow from somewhere and laying back against the wall, wings folded around her softly. "I certainly am..." she murmured. "Getting bisected by a tengu will do that to you..."

Nitori fidgeted. "Yeah... sorry about that," she said softly. "I think the reactor had something to do with you having trouble recovering... you should be fine in the morning..." She paused. "But, um... I know fairies like to play pranks, but it'd really mess up my workshop if you did anything like that in here..."

Daiyousei nodded sleepily, closing her eyes. "All right, then... no pranks except for ones only involving Chitose..." she murmured, grinning a bit.

I was unrolling my futon now, smiling as Sakan rubbed his eyes again and sank towards the floor as he found it harder to keep hovering. "I think we could all use some rest, really... we did a lot of work today cleaning up the Aki Shrine..."

Nitori blinked. "The goddess twins?" she asked. "That's nice of you... I'd almost forgotten they have a shrine. Even when it was made, people really didn't seem to visit it much..." She smiled a bit. "I'm going to go into the workshop and tinker with that analyzer... the sooner we can pin down why it was affecting Daiyousei like that, the better..."

After she had left, and I had slipped into my futon, Utsuho patted my shoulder. "Just give her some time," she said quietly. "She's really shy... took her a while to get used to the idea of me staying here to help her work on stuff... but she really does like humans." She paused. "She's just... scared they won't like her, I guess..."

I nodded, catching Sakan in my arms as the drowsy little tsukumogami floated down to the floor. "Well, I like her," I said, smiling up at the hell-raven. "And she'll get plenty of time while she's teaching me..."

Utsuho nodded, ruffling Sakan's hair lightly. "Pretty brave little brother you've got here, standing up to Momiji like that," she said, giggling. "Did he really beat her card?"

Sakan smiled sleepily. "Yeah..." he murmured. "I beat her... stupid bully tengu..."

Utsuho laughed, tousling his hair. "Aww, she's not that bad. She just takes her job seriously, that's all..." She smiled. "She won't be bugging you anymore though..."

Sakan nodded, and yawned, starting to sink back into the book. He paused as his head reached it, now peering up at me from the page itself like a living picture. "Aneechan... um... are you really okay with me being your little brother...?"

I smiled, hugging him gently. "I've never had a little brother or sister before..." I murmured. "Of course I am... now, as your big sister, I'm telling you it's bedtime, little Sakan..."

Sakan nodded a little, slowly closing his eyes, even as I closed his book and held him close. Utsuho smiled. "He's so cute... and he really trusts you."

I snuggled down in my bag, nodding. "He's a sweetheart all right..."

Utsuho smiled. "And now you're a big sister..."

I closed my eyes, smiling as I held Sakan close. "Yeah... I guess I am..."


	8. Sixth Day ~ Goddess of the Mountain, Goddess of the Lake

Daiyousei was true to her word. I was the only one woken up the next morning by a tickling on her nose, scratching it away only to find their hand rather liberally smeared with pond muck.

One predictable chase scene later, we were out on the mountain again, Nitori accompanying us this time. Utsuho had gone back to the reactor to put Nitori's new device to work, and the kappa herself had offered to come along in case any of the other tengu questioned why we were "trespassing" on the mountain.

After a long walk up the misty slope, we finally came out of the trees and into a small clearing. At the top of a small rise, the pathway up flanked by the usual Shinto gate and by several large pillars wound with shrine streamers, sat the shrine.

"It's really well-kept," I remarked, hesitating as I stepped onto the start of the stone path leading up between the pillars. "Is that Sanae's doing?"

Nitori smiled a little, fidgeting still around me. "Yeah... Sanae's usually up here doing chores and things like that," she said softly. "When she's not busy with incidents, I guess..."

Daiyousei nodded quietly. "I'd like to meet her," she said, glancing to the side. "She sounds a lot different from Reimu..."

Nitori snickered a bit. "Yeah, yeah... she is," she said. "Sanae's nice to just about everyone." She paused, and fidgeted. "This is really the first time she's been out helping to resolve an incident, though," she added. "I hope she's doing okay..."

Sakan smiled. "I bet she is," he said. "I wanna meet her too, though... you think she's back yet?"

I blinked. "Oh, that's right... I met you after the festival, didn't I...? So you wouldn't have met some of the people I did..." I looked up as we reached the gate. "I wonder how Sanae's doing now..."

"You needn't worry about Sanae... she's fine, and on her way back." A voice echoed down from above. As I looked up, its owner flew down from one of the pillars in front of us and landed quietly.

The woman was tall, incredibly so; my first impression was seven feet tall at least. She certainly towered over me, my face level with the small mirror she wore on her chest. Clothed in dark red with an even darker burgundy skirt that reached the ground, she was an imposing sight despite the simple nature of her dress. Dark eyes regarded me quietly from under her short, pale-blue hair, and oddly she wore a great circle of braided shrine rope on her back, balanced perfectly despite towering well above her head.

I could tell even from that brief moment that the woman standing before me now was a goddess. Power radiated from every inch of her being. This was not like the Aki twins, simple goddesses with a worn and seldom-visited shrine. The woman before me was the goddess of a well-kept shrine and commanded a stunning amount of faith... surely this was Sanae's goddess.

Nitori blinked. "L-lady Kanako... y-you're sure?" she asked, fidgeting as she looked up at the tall goddess.

Kanako nodded slowly. "She is borrowing my power for this incident," she said quietly. "I contacted her when I heard you speaking... the incident has concluded, and she is on her way back." She frowned lightly. "She will be some time in returning, however... apparently the ship took off while they were still inside... and ended up in Makai of all places..."

Nitori nodded. "B-but she's all right... that's good..."

Kanako nodded, and then looked to me. "Nitori, you've brought visitors, I see..." she said, her voice never rising above that quiet, even tone. "We don't often see people from the Human Village so far up on the mountain..."

I bowed deeply to the goddess. "M-my name is Chitose Izumo," I began quietly. "I'm not from the village, actually... I was spirited away. This is only my sixth day in Gensokyo... so I don't really live anywhere."

Kanako nodded quietly, tugging her skirt out barely an inch in a hint of a curtsy. "Kanako Yasaka, goddess of the Moriya Shrine," she introduced herself. "Most humans go looking for the Hakurei Shrine if they wish to return to their own world... I'm afraid that strong as I am, I have no power to breach the barrier to return."

I shook my head. "That's not why I came to your shrine... besides, Reimu has already said she's not willing to do it so close to an incident..."

Kanako nodded again. "Then, why are you here?" she asked.

I paused. "Sanae... wanted me to come up and visit," I explained. "We met briefly at the spring festival... she was pretty excited to meet someone else who'd come from the outside world."

Kanako smiled slightly. "Ah, I see..." she murmured. "She would be excited by that... well, as I said, she's unfortunately not back yet." She paused, crossing her arms. "I would guess she won't be back until nightfall, or shortly before. You may visit the shrine if you wish, but I would recommend finding something to entertain yourself with until she returns..."

I nodded quietly. "I think I'll visit it later... I have a feeling Sanae would want to show me around herself."

Kanako nodded again. "Yes, that sounds like her," she said, hovering lightly upwards. "Though if you wish to come in and worship, well..." She smirked, just a tiny twitch of her lip. "I certainly wouldn't prohibit such a thing..."

There were a pair of squeals behind me, so like each other they almost sounded like one. I found myself suddenly caught in a tight grip on both sides of me, and as I looked to my left I saw Shizuha clinging to me, practically for dear life. "N-no way, Lady Kanako!" she called out. "Chitose's our worshipper..."

Minoriko, on my right, nodded. "Th-that's right, she is..." She paused, and looked me pleadingly in the eyes. "R-right?"

I blinked. "Er... well... I'm certainly giving faith to you two... I think..."

Shizuha cheered. "Oh! And before we forget..."

Minoriko giggled. "Yeah... ready sis?"

The two goddesses counted quickly to three, and suddenly I felt a rather firm kiss on each cheek, leaving me sitting there dumbstruck and blushing like a cloud at sunset. Nitori blinked, then giggled softly, blushing, and Daiyousei burst into such hard laughter she had trouble staying in the air.

Kanako raised an eyebrow. "You two are certainly energetic today... what on earth is all this about?"

Shizuha giggled right in my ear. "Just thanking the mortals for a good deed," she intoned in a passable imitation of Kanako's voice.

Nitori blinked. "Oh, right... this is about your shrine, isn't it?"

Minoriko beamed. "Yes, it looks great!"

I blinked. "R-really? I haven't even half-finished it, though..." I shifted in their hold. "A-and the pond still has to be cleaned... I have no idea with what, though..."

Minoriko kissed my cheek again. "But you actually made an effort," she said softly. "That's worth a lot to a pair of small-time goddesses like us..."

Shizuha smiled. "And you're gonna come back and help clean it up more, right?" she asked.

I nodded, squirming a little now, and the goddesses released me with a giggle. "I don't plan on leaving the job unfinished," I said softly. Then I glanced to Nitori. "You... wouldn't happen to have any neat devices laying around that I could use to clean up a pond? The one behind the Aki Shrine is really choked up with dead leaves..."

Nitori tilted her head. "Hm... I'll think about that one..." she said, slipping off her cap and scratching her head. "Lemme think... pond cleaning..."

Kanako chuckled softly. "Well, well... a human from the outside world cleaning a shrine... no wonder Sanae was so eager to meet you..." She paused. "And no wonder the kyoukai took an interest..." she murmured, though I barely caught the words.

I shivered a little and nodded. Kanako turned her eyes to Daiyousei. "I see you have traveling companions, Chitose," she said quietly.

Daiyousei curtsied in midair, still stifling her giggles at the sisters' antics. "Daiyousei, of the Misty Lake," she said breathlessly.

Kanako nodded, crossing her arms lightly. "A fairy? I imagine if Chitose tolerates your presence, you aren't likely to, but I feel it bears repeating..." Her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. "Cause any sort of ruckus at my shrine and I'll atomize you, understand?"

Daiyousei's giggles stopped instantly, and she quickly bowed, cowed by the goddess' sheer presence. "Y-yes ma'am!"

Kanako nodded. "As long as you understand," she said softly. She looked back to me, frowning. "I can sense one more, but I don't see them..." she said quietly. "Did another kappa come with you....?"

I blinked, looking down at the book in my arms. "Oh, you're probably sensing Sakan..." I murmured, tapping the cover. "Come on out..."

Kanako tilted her head, and watched, but the book remained closed. "Where is he?" she asked softly.

I blinked, and shifted my grip, opening the book. "H-he's shy... maybe he's just a little frightened..." I explained, flipping rapidly through the pages, until at last I found those two blank pages near the middle, Sakan's cute face peeking up at me over the bottom margin. "It's okay... Kanako's not dangerous..."

Nitori nodded. "I've never once seen her actually lose her cool," she said, peeking curiously over my shoulder. "She won't hurt you..."

Sakan slowly rose out of the book, sweeping his arm across his waist in a more Western bow. "Aneechan, I can't open myself while you're holding me," he said. "If you want me to come out, you have to open the book... or let go of my body..."

Kanako blinked and leaned in a bit, Sakan looking up at her. "A tsukumogami... Sanae mentioned running into one while chasing the ship, but I've never actually seen one before." She gave a very slight smile. "I imagine you heard my name already, but what is yours?"

Sakan bowed again. "Sakan Irori, Miss Yasaka," he said politely. "I'm traveling with Chitose-aneechan."

Kanako nodded silently. I looked around, taking in the pillars high above. "What do you plan to do now?" Kanako's voice broke in suddenly on my thoughts.

I looked up at her. "I'm not really sure," I said hesitantly. "You said yourself Sanae won't be back until nightfall... and I don't want to go walking around the shrine without her..."

Nitori nodded, and then suddenly lit up. "Well, why not go visit the lake?" she offered. "I'd be happy to take you there..."

Kanako blinked. "Lake Suwa?" she asked. "Mm, well, you'd certainly find plenty there to amuse yourselves..." She glanced at Sakan with a smile. "Although..."

I looked back to see Sakan fidgeting, and belatedly remembered that his original, "true" body was the grimoire... not something that agrees well with water. He gave me a pout. "I-I really don't wanna go near water, aneechan..."

I nodded. "Yeah... um... guess we can't go then..."

Kanako lifted the tome gently from my arms into hers. "Unless you leave him here in my care... would you be more happy that way, Sakan?" she asked softly. "Besides, if you haven't gone there already, you should go to the lake, Chitose... in the meantime, Sakan, I would enjoy it if you would remain here and tell me about your travels..."

I blinked, looking at the little youkai fidgeting in Kanako's arms. "Are you okay with that, Sakan...?"

Sakan nodded hesitantly. "Y-yeah, that's okay... I trust you when you say I'll be safe..." He looked up at the goddess. "I can't tell you all of it, though... Chitose only found me a few nights in. I was in Marisa's possession before that... up until I tumbled out of her bag in the forest..."

Kanako smiled softly. "That's fine... but I'd like to know more about this girl that Sanae is so interested in, and from someone other than herself... and you seem best suited for that..." I heard her say all of this as she turned and floated back up to her pillar, carrying Sakan gently with her.

Nitori turned to me, smiling. "So... um..." She paused, blushing. "You don't have a swimsuit, do you...?"

I shook my head. "Yukari wasn't kind enough to bring through anything besides what I was wearing, so... no," I said quietly. "Everything I'm wearing was either bought in the village or made for me at Eientei..."

Nitori nodded, blushing again. "Well... you'll need one... Daiyousei too, but I don't think anything of mine would fit you..." She fidgeted. "I guess... you could borrow one of mine..." She pointed. "Just head down this path and you'll reach Suwa Lake... I'll catch up to you once I get a suit for you."

The twins nodded softly. "We're going to go get ours too," Shizuha said. "See you all at the lake, okay?"

I nodded, giving both goddesses a quick hug. "And I'll be sure to drop by with some more faith and cleaning soon, okay?"

The goddesses giggled and slipped off, followed by Nitori. I sighed lightly, smiling at Daiyousei, and started down the path. "Hasn't been just us two in a while, huh?" I murmured.

Daiyousei nodded, smiling. "It's nice..." She smiled softly. "It's been quite an adventure, hm? And it's been an even longer one for you, after all..."

I nodded quietly, thinking back. "Yeah..." I murmured. "I remember being surprised at seeing just one youkai, back when Suika welcomed me... and now look at all the ones I've met..."

Daiyousei nodded, her voice becoming much softer suddenly. "You've even taken one in as a little brother," she pointed out, looking back up towards the shrine. "Chitose... are you going to stay here?"

I lapsed into silence, unable to answer, and after a while Daiyousei nodded and flew on. The trees rustled softly above us, and I found myself looking up as the morning sun stole in through the canopy, turning the leaves a bright green as shafts of light broke through and dappled the path. Daiyousei hummed happily to herself. "I like this place... feels like home," she said softly.

I nodded. "Are you feeling better after yesterday's little... run-in?" I asked.

Daiyousei smiled and twirled softly in the air, tugging aside the shoulder of her dress to show me her shoulder. The red line from yesterday had vanished, leaving her unblemished. "Completely," she said.

I smiled a little. "It's so... odd how you can do that... I mean, what's it like, being able to come back from anything?"

Daiyousei chuckled a little, tapping my nose gently. "It does make for a more carefree life," she said. "Of course, that can be a double-edged sword sometimes, one even I'm touched by now and again..."

I blinked. "What's bad about always coming back?"

Daiyousei rolled her eyes. "Well, for starters, it tends to lower others' inhibitions on attacking us if we annoy them..." she said lightly.

I thought back, remembering Reimu blasting Cirno, Mokou literally incinerating Sunny, and nearly everything Yuuka had done, and nodded rather quickly. "Good point..."

Daiyousei nodded a little. "And it also affects us, a bit indirectly... think back; remember the fairies at the sunflower field? And what I was doing there?"

I blinked, thinking back... "So it makes you... more reckless?"

Daiyousei nodded. "What's the point in learning how to avoid attack if you can't die?" she asked. "For most fairies it's a momentary inconvenience, even if it's someone like Reimu striking them down."

I nodded. "So... that explains Cirno then...."

Daiyousei lasted about half a second before bursting into laughter. "Cirno's a little harder to figure out just by that," she gasped out, barrel-rolling several times in the air. "Cirno is far more reckless than any normal fairy... unfortunately, she's also a _lot_ more powerful... She's constantly declaring herself the strongest fighter in Gensokyo, and after taking down the three pranksters three-on-one last year, her ego's only gotten bigger."

I nodded, laughing a little myself. "You two are pretty good friends, huh?"

Daiyousei nodded. "We do both live on the Misty Lake, after all," she said quietly. "She's much more impulsive than I am, though... usually I end up having to try and keep her from getting into too much trouble." She paused. "Impossible as that usually is..."

I nodded. Daiyousei had, in her wild spinning and swooping, ended up among the branches of one of the taller trees, and now she floated down towards me. "I really should try teaching you, huh?" she asked, pulling one of her wings forward and fiddling with it. "Hm, how to start..."

I blinked. "Teach me what...?"

Daiyousei blinked, and then giggled softly, turning and fluttering her wings so close they brushed my nose. "How to fly, silly..." She rubbed her chin again, hovering lightly as she pondered.

I blinked. "But... I'm not a fairy, or a youkai... I can't fly..."

Daiyousei shook her head. "Doesn't stop Reimu or Marisa," she pointed out. "Both of them have been flying since they were very little... and since you're starting to develop powers of your own, you should be able to." She grinned. "Come on, you manipulated that contraption of Nitori's while it was zooming around far overhead... flying is totally simple compared to that."

I nodded hesitantly. "Okay... so... how do I...?"

Daiyousei rubbed her chin. "The trouble is, it's literally instinctual to a fairy. You might as well ask a spider to teach you how to weave a web..." She smiled a bit. "All it really is, though, is using magic to lift yourself... hmm..."

I paused, and closed my eyes. "Patchouli said... I was sensitive to magic," I murmured softly. "I could tell that spell she used on me was trying to analyze me... So... try flying, and maybe I'll be able to see how you do it..."

Daiyousei nodded, and a moment later I heard the soft fluttering of her wings. I focused, remembering the way I had concentrated last night to release the parachute. Slowly, the outline of those wings appeared in my mind, fluttering softly. Remembering Cirno's ice-crystal wings, though, I knew there had to be more to it than simple air displacement like a bird's wing.

I focused further. Magic seemed to be playing about each wing, magic unrelated to that which made up my yousei friend. I focused in further on it, trying to understand what that magic was being used to do, and how it might be replicated.

After a minute or two, my image was disrupted as Daiyousei giggled. "What're you doing with your arms, Chitose?"

Confused, I opened my eyes to see my arms raised out to the sides and high over my head. I blinked and lowered them, meeting some strange resistance. "I don't know..." I murmured.

Daiyousei blinked, pushing down on my arm and then chuckling a little. "You're not pushing back on me, are you?"

I shook my head, and she smiled. "It's a good start, but you can't fly using magic on just your arms..." She smiled and floated forward again, my eyes falling closed as I pondered. Had I been using magic just then without realizing it? My focus returned to those wings, and after a moment, this time I could feel my arms being buoyed up by magic as well.

It was a pretty surprising thought. Just by focusing and visualizing the magic holding Daiyousei up, I was able to somehow replicate it myself... nevertheless, I clearly wasn't flying yet, and I continued focusing even more closely. Soon enough, though, I realized my mistake. Daiyousei's wings weren't the only part of her being held up by magic. A thin veneer of magic held all around her body, every bit of it devoted to buoying her up in the air. The wings, or my arms, alone wouldn't do it.

I finally came to a stop as I focused on the magic surrounding my friend, concentrating and slowly trying to shape it around my own form as well. Nothing seemed to happen, but then Daiyousei giggled softly and floated over to me. With a deft movement, she plucked off my sandals and socks. Thinking she was aiming for another prank, I started to run after her... only to discover that my feet were pedaling rather uselessly and I wasn't moving at all. Then I felt a breeze curling around my toes, and realized I could no longer feel the grass beneath them, and I opened my eyes to see myself hovering perhaps an inch off of the ground.

I looked up, dumbfounded. "D-daiyousei... I-I'm flying..."

Daiyousei glanced back at me and beamed. "Feels nice, doesn't it?"

I grinned, leaning forward and letting the magic gather more strongly at my back, flying slowly towards her. "Yeah, it does," I said. "Besides..." My hand shot out and grabbed my socks back. "Makes it just a little harder for you to run after your pranks, doesn't it?"

Daiyousei giggled, handing back my sandals as well. "Yes, but take it easy at first, silly," she said, fluttering over and remaining by my side as we slowly floated down the path. "Try anything too fancy at this stage and you'll just end up crashing into a tree..."

Laughing and continuing the lesson the whole way, I finally reached the lake with Daiyousei still by my side. Nitori had already arrived, hovering over the lake and dipping her toes into the water. "You made it," she said with a grin, blinking at the space between my feet and the ground. "... And you're flying now?"

Daiyousei bowed lightly. "She has a good teacher," she teased lightly, flitting out over the lake happily, dipping her feet in here and there to send ripples across the quiet surface.

Nitori giggled a little at the fairy, then blushed slightly and held out a simple pitch-black suit to me. "H-here... it's probably going to be a little tight on you, but it'll have to do until you can get one from Kourindou or somewhere..."

I nodded, slipping into a stand of cat-tails to change quickly. "What about you?" I asked, peeking out. Nitori was still wearing the same long green dress she'd had when I first saw her.

Nitori smiled a bit. "I'm a kappa, Chitose... I'm always prepared for water." She blushed slightly and shimmered into camoflague once again, reappearing a few minutes later clad in a teal one-piece with her dress folded neatly over one arm. "See?"

I nodded, chuckling a little as I stepped out of the reeds, folding Reisen's kimono gently on the shoreline. "You were wearing that under your dress, huh? Should've guessed..." The water was clear, amazingly so, and I could see the tiny clouds of silt my feet kicked up as I stepped in. I could even see the tiny fish that swam up and began to nose at my ankles when I held still for a few minutes.

Nitori smiled. "Isn't it beautiful?" she asked softly, floating beside me.

I nodded, shivering slightly. "It's a little cold..." Spring had only just begun, and even in the warmer climate the water still clung to winter's chill.

Nitori tilted her head, smiling widely. "I never really got that about humans. Water is water, whether hot or cold!" She giggled, and took off suddenly, landing with a huge splash in the middle of the lake and vanishing beneath the surface.

Daiyousei rolled her eyes. "It's no wonder humans concocted that crazy idea about kappas..." She paused. "You know, the one about making them bow to defeat them...?"

I shrugged. "Most images about kappa also make them look like turtles, not cute girls," I pointed out. "I do get what you're saying though.." I stepped further in, the water lapping softly at my waist, and shivered again.

Daiyousei flitted up behind me. "Is it really that cold?"

I shook my head. "No... I just need a minute to get used to it..."

Daiyousei floated a little closer, and I heard her giggling softly in my ear. "You know, I hear the best thing to do when you're trying to get into cold water... is to just jump right in!"

I knew what she was up to almost before she spoke, and a moment later I felt her hands on my back; I grinned at her and leaned into it as she pushed me. I flopped into the lake with an even bigger splash than Nitori's and shot along, eyes tightly closed against the water as the bottom flew by beneath me.

Eventually, I came to a deeper part of the lake and surfaced, gasping for breath and wiping the water from my lids. When I finally got my eyes clear, I opened them to see a strange sight, even for Gensokyo. Floating directly in front of my face, not even a foot before me, was an enormous tan hat with a wide brim. It almost looked more like a giant tan bucket than a hat, except for the two round eyes goggling at me on the top.

The eyes didn't blink, and they reminded me of the calm, unbroken stare of a frog. I lifted the hat carefully and looked around for signs of someone who might have dropped it, but saw nobody besides my two companions.

Nitori surfaced behind me and leaned in to look at the hat, then giggled softly. "You might wanna put that back down," she said.

I looked back at her, surprised. "Do you know whose this is?" I asked as I set it down.

Nitori giggled again and nodded. "Yep..." The hat suddenly began to float away from me, moving almost stealthily around behind Daiyousei. "And right on schedule..."

A dark shape suddenly burst from the water and grabbed Daiyousei from behind, splashing down into the water with her. I shouted and swam towards her, but Nitori caught my hand. "It's okay," she said softly, as Daiyousei surfaced again, wiggling wildly as the hat poked up again. "She's just playing around..."

The hat suddenly lifted out of the water, Daiyousei firmly held in the grip of the girl who had been wearing it. "Heehee... I gotcha!" she declared happily, practically squeezing Daiyousei.

Daiyousei suddenly released a three-turn spiral of green kunai, and warped away as the mystery girl let go in surprise, reappearing by my side and clinging to my arm. The other girl pouted and hovered over the water's surface, hands on her hips, giving me my first good look at her.

Like many of the people I'd met in Gensokyo, her dress and sleeves were a distinctly different color; in this case, the sleeves were white, and wide stitches around the join between arm and shoulder made me wonder if they had originally been two different garments. The dress itself was a soft violet color, patterned with several frogs in various states of sitting, jumping, and trying to capture flies. The face above the ruffled, scarf-like collar was almost as childish as Remilia's had been, with blonde hair past her shoulders and calm grey eyes that seemed to bely her childish appearance. The hat I had seen before, of course, was settled neatly atop her head.

One of the first things I noticed, though, was the simple fact that this was also a goddess. She showed no outward signs of her power like the tall, imposing Kanako, and looked frankly even cuter than Sakan, but there was a quiet grace behind her silly actions and a calm force in those grey eyes. Somehow, I could feel the divine nature of the young-looking girl, who in fact was likely older than all of us combined.

Nitori rose out of the water and bowed deeply, confirming my thoughts. "Lady Suwako," she said softly. "Sorry if we disturbed you..."

Suwako grinned. "Nah, I don't mind in the least... 'sides, it was getting kinda boring without anyone around..." she said. "Sanae's still not back yet... although..." She floated down, black shoes touching the water's surface but resting suspended atop the still lake. "Looks like there's still a human hanging around up here, eh...?" Her grin widened. "So who's this? Must be someone pretty special to get Nitori to come out of her workshop and hang with a human..."

I bowed as best as I could while mostly submerged. "My name is Chitose Izumo, Lady Suwako," I said quietly. "I'm a human who was spirited away a few days ago... I met Sanae at the spring festival and she asked me to visit her up here."

Suwako nodded. "Suwako Moriya," she said with a grin. "That sounds like Sanae all right... she was born in the outside world, after all... she'd definitely want to hear news from it..." She scratched her head. "I mean, it's been, what, two years since we moved here? Lots can change in that time..."

I nodded, looking around. "Well, we'll probably have a while to chat..." I murmured, and then grinned, carefully floating up out of the water, giggling as Daiyousei scrambled around and clung to my back. "This is certainly an interesting gathering, though..." As I spoke, I pointed to myself, Nitori, Daiyousei, and Suwako in turn. "A human, a youkai, a yousei, and a goddess, all in the same place..."

Suwako grinned. "Yep... and it'll be three goddesses in a couple of minutes, if my senses aren't goin' screwy on me."

Nitori nodded. "The Aki sisters were going to join us," she said. "They're still pretty happy about the clean-up job Chitose started at their shrine..." I blushed as I remembered the scene at the shrine, and Nitori giggled. "Make that _very_ happy..."

I tilted my head. "So... what shrine are you goddess of, Suwako...? I remember Sanae mentioning your name..."

Suwako laughed, spinning her hat on one finger. "Yeah, that's 'cause I used to be the goddess of the Moriya Shrine. S'my last name, after all..." She paused. "Kanako loves telling the story, so might as well... you'll hear it eventually, either from her or Sanae..."

Daiyousei blinked, peeking out, and Nitori floated down and seated herself on the water's surface, looking up at the goddess. "One thing you have to understand, you two," she said softly. "Chitose, you had it right about her being a goddess, but it's not just that... Lady Suwako is a native goddess of Japan..."

Suwako grinned, plopping her hat back onto her head. "Got that right," she said. "One of the originals, that's me. Heck, I'm even older than the Amazon hag... might even be older than that crazy kyoukai..." Those last few words were spoken in an almost conspiratorial whisper.

I looked up at her. "So, then... what does that make Lady Kanako?"

Suwako smiled. "Kanako's a member of the Yamato, the gods that united the various kingdoms under the pantheon that eventually gave rise to what modern humans call Shinto." She laughed. "And, well... she wanted to 'unify' my kingdom into theirs. And I refused."

Daiyousei blinked. "So you two fought...?" she murmured. "That must have been a sight to see..."

Suwako rubbed the back of her head, grinning broadly. "Eh... not really," she said. "To be honest, well... by the time the conflict now known as the Great Suwa War was over, I was forced to concede to the superior goddess..." She shook her head. "I brought out my strongest servants, the mishaguji, and arrayed my followers in the finest of steel... and this over two thousand years ago, mind. I felt sure that Kanako would balk just at seeing my kingdom's unleashed might."

She pulled off her hat and spun it lightly on her finger. "Instead, she held out a single vine, and her divine power proved so strong that the armor and weapons I'd made for my people rusted away in an instant." She paused. "After that... well, after seeing her power I knew that I had to concede... and so I became the former goddess of the Moriya Shrine, and Kanako took over."

I shivered lightly as she finished her tale. "I didn't know gods went to war like that..."

Suwako shrugged lightly, smiling again now. "It was over two thousand years ago now. It doesn't really happen much anymore... well..." She paused. "Other than the whole... takeover thing we tried with Reimu's shrine, but that was back when we'd first gotten here and didn't realize how vital she is to Gensoyo..." She tipped her hat back a little. "Besides, that was Kanako's idea. I just gave those two a bit of a fight the second time they visited the shrine... I was feelin' left out, y'know?"

I was silent as I listened to the tale. Something seemed strange to me, though... Suwako hadn't mentioned any sort of combat between Kanako and the native goddess herself... It was Daiyousei that raised the question eventually, though. "Have you... ever thought about trying to take it back?"

Suwako blinked, and then shrugged, grinning. "What, me beat Kanako? I lost, remember?"

I rose out of the water hesitantly to stand eye-to-eye with her. "But... in all those thousands of years, couldn't you have gotten stronger?" I suggested. "Without even trying to show it, it was obvious to me from the start that you were a goddess..."

Suwako smiled. "Eh, well... maybe I could beat Kanako, maybe I couldn't," she said with a shrug. "But really... it doesn't matter so much these days... Think about it, ne? My kingdom slowly fell away after Kanako took over. And you're from the outside world yourself... you know what kinda state faith is out there..." She paused. "Truth be told, I was pretty much forgotten by everyone except Sanae... even her parents were growing a lot more towards the scientific than the mystical by the time she was born. So really... Kanako and I were fading away before we arrived in Gensokyo. Probably would have faded completely if it weren't for Sanae being able to hear our voices, and bring us faith and care..." She smiled. "I've got life... a cute miko hanging around the shrine to play with, even if she's _technically_ Kanako's... I even still have the mishaguji-sama still..." She grinned, raising her hand, and the air seemed to darken for a moment as a massive white snake, ruby-like eyes regarding me calmly, rose from the lake, Suwako perched frog-like on its head. "So you see," she said, giggling a little as the vision faded and she splashed back down into the water. "Honestly, I'm pretty content with the way things are..."

I nodded, still shivering a little. The "curse god" that Suwako had called upon was clearly only a minor deity, one totally under the frog-like girl's control... and yet it too had exuded power as it watched me, enough to make me tremble before it. Then I paused. "I understand..." I said quietly. "By the way, I was wondering something... What exactly is 'tensoku'?"

Suwako and Nitori both blanched, and the goddess treated the kappa to a pout that somehow scared me even more than Yuuka's smile. "Nitoriiii," she whined playfully. "You didn't go blabbing to the new girl, did you?"

Nitori squeaked and turned invisible, a splash heralding her diving under the water. I shook my head quickly. "She didn't say a word," I protested. "Utsuho mentioned the name, that's all... nothing else. Momiji wouldn't say anything either, when I asked... just said that I'd have to ask you if I wanted to know..."

Suwako perched atop a lily pad with her knees bent almost double, her hands resting lightly on the surface in that posture that once again reminded me of a frog. "And well she should have," she said lightly. "Tensoku's top secret... people aren't really supposed to even know the name..."

Nitori poked her head out of the water. She was still camouflaged, but I could tell from the ripples where she was. "U-um... Suwako-sama..." she murmured. "I think... we might be able to trust Chitose... she might even be able to help..."

Suwako tilted her head, staring directly at Nitori as if she could see through the kappa's "cloak". "Hmm...? What do you think she could help with?"

Nitori fidgeted, and poked me lightly. "U-um... Chitose... could you tell her? I-I'm really nervous..."

I paused. "Well... it's still pretty fledgling, but... apparently I'm developing the power to manipulate machines..." I thought for a moment. "I'm pretty good with my hands, too... I was studying to be an engineer when I was spirited away. Nitori even might be willing to teach me as her apprentice..."

Suwako gave me a long look. "Nitori... you think we could trust her to keep the secret?" she asked.

Nitori nodded quickly. "Y-yeah... I think so..."

I bowed quietly. "If a goddess entrusts me with her secret, how could I betray that trust?" I asked softly. "... Unless it was a plan to get Gensokyo blown up or something, I guess..."

Suwako giggled. "Nah, nah, we already caused two incidents for Reimu to clean up, I'm not gonna cause anything bad to happen!" She grinned. "If anything, it's gonna be awesome..." She eyed Daiyousei. "Well... I'll think about it, okay? I mean, no offense, but I don't totally trust fairies with a secret this big..."

Daiyousei curtsied lightly. "I can't blame you," she said lightly. "I'm an exception, but considering any of the other fairies I know would spread it throughout the entire realm, I don't expect you to believe that on my word alone..."

Suwako grinned. "Well, then, it's settled!" she said, quite literally hopping off of the pad and splashing into the pond, poking her head up near me. "I'll give you the details in private later, if we end up deciding to let you help out."

I nodded, dropping into the water, and then blinked as two figures shot by me from behind and landed lightly on the surface. "Oh.. hello, you two," I said softly.

The Aki sisters giggled, looking down. "Hi, Suwako-sama," Shizuha said, twirling a bit in a long suit that slowly shaded from deep red to bright yellow, a perfect spectrum of autumn's colors. "You came out to play too, huh?"

Minoriko was dressed in deep burgundy, a design of crossed wheat-ears on her back. "It's nice to see you again," the harvest goddess said softly. "Are we going to have some fun today with the goddess of the lake, then?"

Suwako grinned, jumping up to grab both girls and pull them down in with her. "You bet!" she crowed, bouncing back up and perching on the lily pad again, and I noticed for the first time that her clothes and hat had remained stubbornly dry.

The goddesses hugged me lightly as they splashed back up, smiling. "So, what do we play...?"

I smiled. "Why not just swim around and have fun together, huh?" I suggested. "Three goddesses and three mortals... this'll be kinda fun, huh?"

The sisters giggled and kissed my cheeks again, leaving me beet-red. "Sounds good!"

Suwako grinned and hopped into the water again, emerging with a huge wave of water that splashed over all of us. "Hey, I'm always up for visitors..."

Nitori giggled. "Yeah!"

Daiyousei blinked. "Do I count as 'mortal'...?" she murmured.

I laughed and caught her by the ankle, tugging her down into a brief hug. "Who cares... let's play!" I called, diving down into the water once more.


	9. Sixth Night ~ Saint of Makai

The evening found Nitori and I sprawled on the shore, Suwako still out on the lake and chasing Daiyousei, who had managed to swipe that odd hat. The Aki sisters had headed back down the mountain for their shrine after a while to do a little bit of re-arranging themselves.

Daiyousei suddenly came to a halt, and Suwako grabbed her with a triumphant grin, plopping the hat back onto her head. Then the thing that had stopped Daiyousei caught her attention as well, and she looked off to the south.

A beautiful aurora had begun to streak through the sky, brilliant and tinged a bit more heavily than usual with red. I sat up to look, smiling a little. "Wow..."

Daiyousei frowned, fidgeting. "That's not... a normal aurora..." she murmured.

Nitori blinked. "How can you tell?" she asked.

The fairy pouted, wiggling free of Suwako's grip. "I can tell... it feels strange... I'm literally born from nature, I can feel things like this... something feels odd, magical, about that aurora..."

Suwako landed with a plop in the sand, laying back and staring up at the shimmering lights. "Mm... maybe, but I don't think it's anything to worry about..." she said quietly.

Daiyousei blinked, but sighed and floated down, settling almost instinctively in my lap.

As we sat there, watching the lights, Kanako landed in the sand behind us. "Sanae is on her way back," she said softly.

Suwako blinked up at her. "She contacted you?" she asked.

Kanako nodded slowly. "That aurora... apparently the ship she's on is passing back through the border between Gensokyo and Makai..." she said. "They'll be arriving at the shrine soon, if you wish to be there to meet her..."

Moving carefully, I flew up into the air, still holding Daiyousei. "Sakan?" I asked.

Kanako tilted her head a fraction. "Waiting for you back at the shrine," she said quietly. "It wouldn't be wise to bring him close to so much water, remember?"

I nodded, moving along the path carefully. Even with my caution, though, flying was still noticeably faster than walking. Suwako hovered by my side, grinning, while Kanako and Nitori took off over the trees and went on ahead. "Looking forward to seeing her again?" she asked lightly.

I smiled a bit. "Yeah... besides, I wanna hear more about this incident... and make sure she's okay, of course."

Suwako grinned. "You sure picked an interesting time to visit," she said. "Right smack dab in the middle of an incident..."

I pouted a little. "I didn't pick it, Yukari did..." I muttered.

Suwako laughed. "Oh, yeah, the kyoukai... she's just funny though..."

We were nearing the end of the path now, and the shrine loomed up ahead. Sakan was hovering at the gate, and darted into my arms as we approached, displacing Daiyousei. "There you are, aneechan..." he murmured.

I nodded, hugging him lightly as I floated up a little. "Where's Sanae?"

He pointed. "Up there... well, you might not be able to see it yet, since youkai have sharper vision than humans, but..."

I scanned the skies for a few minutes before I saw it, and gasped. The "treasure ship" that Reimu had mentioned back in Keine's classroom had finally appeared, a long ark-like ship literally flying through the skies, giving off a soft glow as it approached.

The great ship halted a reasonable distance before reaching the mountain, and after a moment I could see two figures leave the deck and fly towards the shrine. The lead figure slowly resolved itself into Sanae, but I didn't know the other. Stepping behind a pillar, I waited.

Sanae landed with a soft smile, looking around. "Kanako-sama, I'm back..." she said.

Kanako smiled a bit, enfolding the miko in a brief hug. "So you are... and I see you've brought company..." she said quietly. "How was your first real time out youkai-hunting?"

Sanae winced noticeably. "It was... pretty exhilarating," she admitted. "Though I don't know that it's really best to call it 'youkai-hunting', especially in front of our guest..."

The second person had landed now, and I looked out from behind the pillar to get a better look. She was clearly a woman, older-seeming than most of the people I had met so far in Gensokyo. At first I though her dress was black, but then I saw that the black was in fact a long coat that reached nearly to her ankles, held tight around her by a number of bands crossing over her chest. The woman's actual dress beneath that coat was a pure, soft white in color. She held a scroll idly in one hand.

Kanako nodded quietly. "So, this must be the monk you mentioned to me... the one you met in Makai?" she asked, eyeing the woman quietly.

The woman blinked at this frank speech. "Yes... I am," she said quietly. "So you must be Sanae's goddess, then...?" She stepped closer, watching Kanako, and I got a better view as she turned in my direction to face the goddess.

She was incredibly beautiful, with an earthly sort of beauty different from either Tenshi's celestial radiance or Kaguya's ageless lunar grace. Her face was kind, a soft smile stealing across beneath wide golden eyes that scanned over the shrine. That smile widened as Sanae caught sight of Nitori peeking out from behind Kanako and ran over to hug her.

Nitori flushed a little, but happily returned the hug. "Welcome back, Sanae," she murmured.

Sanae giggled. "Nitori, you came all the way up here to see me, huh?" She tilted her head. "How've you been? It feels like a lot longer than two days since I last saw you..."

Nitori fidgeted a little. "Oh... I've been okay... you know... tinkering with stuff... completely messing up on that jet-pack idea... meeting a couple of new people, maybe even friends..."

Sanae blinked. "Really?" she asked, hugging Nitori again. "Wow... I know how hard that is for you... anybody I know?"

Nitori blinked. "Um... well, yeah... one of them..." She glanced in my direction, and I ducked behind the pillar. "I think she's waiting on the right moment to talk to you though, or something..."

On the far side of the pillar, I heard Kanako's voice. "So, I imagine you were the one who made it possible for Sanae to return from that realm? ... You have my thanks."

The other woman's voice was equally calm. "Yes, I did... despite her rashness at our first meeting." She paused, and sighed a little. "Though from what she's been telling me, perhaps I was a bit rash in attacking as well..."

Kanako's voice remained level. "I must admit, you aren't what I was expecting to be within such an ancient and powerful seal..."

The woman sighed again. "You, on the other hand, are mostly what I expected from my exchange with Sanae before the battle... Tell me, how strong is your influence on her when she is calling on your powers?"

My attention was jerked away from the conversation as Sanae peeked around the pillar and gasped. "Oh! Chitose, you made it?" She beamed at me. "Wow, I'm so glad... you haven't been waiting for me long, have you?"

I shook my head. "I made it here earlier today... I sort of took the long way around, really... I was at the concert three nights ago too, so it took me a while to get around on foot..."

Sanae blinked. "Oh, right, you can't fly yet..." She giggled, then smiled even more as Daiyousei fluttered up beside me. "Well, I'm glad you made it here, anyway... I hope it wasn't too boring waiting all day..."

I shook my head again. "No, Nitori and Daiyousei here and I went down to the lake... we ended up playing with the goddess sisters and with Lady Suwako..."

Sanae blinked. "That's right! Where _is_ Suwako-sama, anyway...?"

As if on cue, the blonde goddess hopped up and hugged tightly around Sanae's neck from behind. "There you are, you meanie!" she declared, smiling widely. "You go all the way to Makai and back and don't even look for me when you get home?"

Sanae blinked, and pouted a little. "N-no way, I'd never forget about you, Suwako-sama!" she protested, reaching up to tickle the goddess gently. "Don't say things like that... I'm not a meanie..."

Suwako giggled and let go, landing lightly behind Sanae and grinning. "Nah, I know that, silly. I'm just teasing..." She hugged her again. "Welcome back!"

Sanae smiled, hand sneaking under the hat to ruffle Suwako's hair gently. "Glad to be back, Suwako-sama..." She glanced back at me, still playing with Suwako. "So, you didn't go back home after all, Chitose?"

I shook my head. "Reimu didn't want to burn that much energy opening the barrier for me right on the eve of an incident..." I said softly. "Maybe now that it's over..."

Sanae nodded, glancing towards the other woman. "Right... she has a point there... Miss Hijiri was an incredible opponent, all right..." She shook her head. "I haven't faced someone as powerful as her since the time Reimu and I fought when we first came here..."

I nodded, and started to ask about the incident, before I realized the other conversation had become louder now. I stepped around from behind the pillar, and was surprised to find a pained look on the new woman's face. "Backwards thinking like that is what led me to believe this world was no different than the one that sealed me away," she was saying, tension in her voice now. "Are you really no different?"

Kanako's voice was stern now, the voice of a teacher speaking to a wayward student. "Youkai seek to harm humans, and humans seek to exterminate them. That cycle has always endured."

Sanae winced beside me, and the other girl continued. "I can understand trying to defend one's self, but how can you call it just to exterminate youkai when other methods exist? Have you considered nothing?" Her look of sorrow deepened. "Goddesses, youkai, humans... they should all be equal... For a human to attack a youkai without provocation, even under the banner of 'pre-emptive attack', should be just as wrong for youkai to fight humans..."

Kanako shook her head, the firmness in her voice only increasing as she spoke. "You're making no sense. When youkai are wicked, it's our right and duty to strike..."

The woman tensed even more. "Even if you can't understand my philosophy, as the goddess of this shrine, you have a responsibility to your miko," she said sharply. "You can't simply raise her to parrot your every thought and word... Your ideals are not the only correct one, Kanako Yasaka, and you can't just press Sanae into following them." She drew a card from the inside of her dress. "As her goddess, you have just as much responsibility as her parents to raise her well... I can't fault Sanae for following your words so closely, but if she does so, it is your responsibility to not fill her head with foolish, outdated ideas!"

Kanako drew back, removing one of the folded paper streamers from her rope. "Are you challenging me, little monk?" she asked, her voice suddenly becoming sardonic. "I won't lose to someone with such a foolish idea as you... youkai and gods the same, how silly..."

Sanae gasped as both of them rose into the air, but Suwako caught her by the arm before she could do anything. "What, you worried Kanako's gonna lose?' she asked, grinning a bit. "C'mon, if I can't beat her, she certainly can't..."

Sanae shook her head. "N-no... but Miss Hijiri is still winded and tired from the duels she had with us... I don't think she should be exerting herself like this..."

Kanako frowned, having heard Sanae. "Then, a one-card duel?" she called across to her opponent. "One should be enough to get your point across..."

Miss Hijiri nodded. "I think that would be best," she said. "I don't think I have the energy for more than one..." She raised her card. "Here is my strongest spell... let's see how you stand up to my dharma, o goddess who hunts youkai! Flying Fantastica!"

Kanako raised a card of her own. "I won't lose to someone that my miko was able to overcome," she said quietly. "Now, face _my_ strongest spell, youkai-loving monk! Virtue of Wind God!"

What followed was best described, in my mind, by the single word "spectacle". As the monk released her spell, a beautiful framework of interwoven gold formed behind her, a magic-born device supporting four spreading blossoms that began to release rings of shots. Unlike normal danmaku, though, these shots were formed like tiny jewels, and I could barely see against the setting sun's rays that a slim, almost wire-like strand of grey connected each ring in a wide circle that grew as they flowed outwards, the whole ring spinning. Each group of four rings released was a different color, the jewels slowly spreading out and spinning towards Kanako, some even curling back around towards her from behind.

Kanako's spell was even more flashy, releasing a trio of five-petalled flowers around her in green, red, and purple. Each flower in turn curled inward and rushed outwards, breaking into groups of four shots as they flowed. These, too, were a new type, square amulet-like shots that seemed somehow much denser and harder to dodge than the normal grains and orbs I'd seen before. Each flower that scattered was replaced by a new one, some in blue as well, and as the monk began dodging among them they began to form and scatter faster and faster. The fans of amulets even seemed to cluster and overlap one another, forcing Kanako's opponent to at times dodge directly through the middle of them.

Both spellcards on their own would have been a stunning sight. Together, they silenced everyone on the ground as we all looked up at the battle above our heads, even the trembling Sanae unable to bring herself to say a word, just holding tightly to Suwako.

Kanako remained at all times as calm and quiet as ever, dodging nimbly through the opponent's rings, while the monk became noticeably winded as she was forced to dash right and left out of the way. Kanako's card certainly felt much more frantic than the careful, close dodging the goddess herself was making, and soon one of those fans closed in as Byakuren dodged through its center, the amulets to either side of her coming together and pinning her in the middle. She gasped and faltered, her spell bursting and scattering, and slowly floated down to the ground, her flowers - which I finally identified as lotus - dissolving away as well. "Mm... I suppose that was to be expected of Sanae's goddess..." she murmured.

Kanako landed lightly on top of one of the pillars, standing there and quietly regarding us all. Sanae moved to the monk's side. "M-miss Hijiri, are you hurt...?"

The monk shook her head. "No... just winded... I suppose trying to fight again so soon was a poor choice..." She glanced over and saw me, tilting her head and smiling lightly. "Ah... hello there. Are you a friend of Sanae's?"

I nodded, bowing politely. "Chitose Izumo... a human from the outside world..."

She nodded and bowed in return. "My name is Byakuren Hijiri..." She sighed just a little, turning to Sanae, and with a start I saw that her hair, which I had thought to be a uniform purple, actually shaded from purple to deep gold, becoming blonde as it passed her shoulders and flowed down nearly to her waist in the rear. "I'm sorry to have acted that way, Sanae... I really don't think it's such a good idea to take the words of a woman like that as absolute truth..."

Sanae nodded, sighing a little. "But if youkai are actively disturbing the peace..."

Byakuren looked to me now. "Tell me... If I described a world to you where youkai were reviled and hated, and the reaction of any human who saw one was to try and exterminate it... which race would you say is truly oppressed?"

I blinked. "Um... I don't really know much about youkai..."

Byakuren nodded. "True... you did say you were from Outside..." She looked back to Sanae. "As I said to Kanako, fighting back to protect your own life is understandable... but saying things like you're 'hunting the wicked youkai' doesn't sound like that at all..." She glanced at Nitori. "You're friends with a kappa... and from what you've told me, many of those that give faith to this shrine are youkai... surely you can see they're not all evil and worthy of revulsion..."

Sanae fidgeted. "Y-yeah..."

Byakuren turned back to me. "And... what about you?" she asked quietly. "Sanae has been telling me things about Gensokyo that make me truly hopeful... but I want to hear an outsider's perspective..."

I tilted my head. "Things like what?" I asked. "What... exactly is it that you're hopeful for?"

Byakuren smiled softly. "The world I described to you is how things were in my time," she said quietly. "I myself often fell into that trap in the beginning... I am a Buddhist monk, and was once a very powerful specialist in youkai extermination myself..." She paused, and I saw that pained look again. "I eventually came to realize that I was acting without thinking, assigning all the blame to the youkai no matter what the situation... I decided to change that, and act to help youkai as well..."

I nodded a little. "It's... definitely not an idea I'm used to hearing..." I murmured. "Then again, I'm not used to meeting youkai like Nitori or Suika either..." I smiled, giving Daiyousei's wing a stroke. "Or like Daiyousei here... though she's a fairy, not a youkai..."

Byakuren's face grew just a bit more pained. "... I imagine you've been wondering why I was sealed away..." she said quietly. "To put it simply, I had been aiding youkai... and had even in some sense become like one myself... having given up on human hearts and used my magic to stop myself from aging... They called me a demon, or worse, and thus they thought it fitting I be sealed in Makai, the realm of the demons..." She chuckled a little, a harsh sound. "Just for seeking to bring humans and youkai closer together... isn't that foolish?"

Sanae moved to support the monk gently. "Just how long ago was that...?" she murmured. "I can't imagine the world could have changed from what you describe in such a short time..."

Byakuren frowned, and seemed to be counting for a moment, tapping her fingers together. "... I'd say... a thousand years, give or take a few," she said quietly. "It's been a very long time..." She looked to me once more. "What I envisioned, what I dreamed, was a world where humans and youkai could live equally... neither needing to fear the other - and trust me, many of the younger, less powerful youkai feared us in my day. And now... what do you think of Gensokyo, Chitose?"

I paused, thinking of everyone I'd met in my long journey... Suika, Alice, Patchouli, Remilia, Yuuka, Nitori, and so many others... "I think..." I began slowly. "I think some of them still should be rightfully feared... Yuuka in particular... and that some of them don't really care much whether their actions affect humans... And I've certainly met some humans that don't trust youkai at all... But, I don't think either side really attacks the other on sight any more..." I smiled a little. "I mean, I've met a lot of youkai who were really friendly... I would've probably been eaten within my first five minutes here if some of them weren't..."

Daiyousei nodded. "Although Rumia seems to have missed the memo on that..." she murmured. "And Yuuka... well... Yuuka is just scary." She winced.

Byakuren seemed to wince lightly as Yuuka's name was mentioned as well. "I see..." she said quietly. "But what about the humans...?"

I blinked. "They don't really attack, but... I don't think many of them have the power to fight youkai, besides Reimu and Marisa..." I said hesitantly. "And Sanae of course. They even have a half-beast who protects the village, and everyone seems to like her..."

Byakuren nodded, starting to smile a little. "A village of humans in the midst of a realm where youkai are sealed within... just as Sanae said." She nodded. "I'm starting to believe that this world I've awoken to is more like the world I envisioned than I realized..."

I smiled. "I think so... I doubt a concert given by ghosts and attended by dozens of youkai, as well as three or four humans, would have been possible back then..."

Byakuren laughed softly. "Sounds like a sight worth seeing..."

I nodded. "So, you're... still alive, even after nearly a thousand years?"

Byakuren nodded. "As I said, I was able to discover a method to preserve my life and youth, through my magic..." she said, another pained look stealing over her face.

I smiled just a little. "So you turned from a human to a youkai, then...?" At her brief nod, my smile widened. "Wow... just like Alice..." I paused. After a moment, I realized my mistake, and winced. "O-oh... right... you wouldn't know who Alice is..."

Byakuren, however, seemed to have lit up. "Wait... Alice? Alice Margatroid? You know her?" she asked, positively beaming.

I blinked. "We met... down in the village..." I tilted my head. "But... how do you know Alice?"

Byakuren giggled. "Shinki was a very good friend of mine... she visited me often throughout my imprisonment... of course I know her daughter."

I stared. "Daughter...? Just who is this 'Shinki'?"

Byakuren blinked, glancing at the others. "You don't know her...?"

Sanae shook her head. "It's not a name I've heard... then again I only got here recently..."

Nitori frowned. "I don't know it either..."

Daiyousei crossed her arms. "There's a name I haven't heard in a long while..." she murmured softly. "Shinki... goddess and creator of Makai... so then Alice is her..."

Byakuren shook her head. "There were two beings in Makai that were not Shinki's creation," she said softly. "Myself, because I was sealed there after its creation, and Alice, Shinki's daughter..." She smiled. "Well, daughter by adoption, I should say, but it's all the same really... the poor dear stumbled into Makai one day and Shinki took her in. She even helped her master the magic that let her become a youkai." She sighed lightly. "I haven't seen her in such a long time... I wonder how she's doing?"

I nodded. "She's living in the Forest of Magic now, but she visits the human village a lot..."

Byakuren beamed. "Then that settles it absolutely. I'll make my temple there..."

Sanae fidgeted. "O-oh, that's right..." She looked up to the pillar, where Kanako was still stolidly watching the sunset. "Kanako-sama... I was hoping to ask you something..."

Kanako looked down, eyeing Sanae quietly. "Yes...?"

Sanae blushed slightly and continued to fidget under that gaze. "I-I know you two didn't exactly get along well at first meeting, but... I was hoping that we could... help Miss Hijiri with something..."

Byakuren smiled a little. "I was hoping to establish a temple here, after talking with Sanae about what Gensokyo has become," she called up to the goddess. "Would you be willing to help us establish it?"

Sanae stepped to the monk's side. "P-please, Kanako-sama?" she asked. "I-I know she's a good person... I can tell... even if you two think differently..."

Kanako looked skyward for a long moment, crossing her arms. "... All right," she said after a long while. "I'll see what we can work out..."

Sanae flew up and hugged her tightly. "Thank you..."

Kanako smiled just a little. "You fought hard in this incident... I don't see any reason to distrust your judgment..."

Byakuren smiled. "Well then, it seems that's settled..." she said lightly. "I'll have to pay Alice a visit once I get settled in..."

A shout drew our attention back towards the ship. A white figure was flying rapidly towards us, and there seemed to be a lot of motion on the deck. Byakuren blinked and floated up as the figure reached us, hugging her lightly. "Murasa, what's wrong?" she asked.

The black-haired girl who had come flying to us was dressed in a classic sailor's outfit, though with green trim on the sleeves rather than blue, matching her eyes. She held an old-style ladle clutched in one hand and an anchor somehow "sheathed" behind her back. "Lady Byakuren, there's something attacking the ship!" she cried out, almost clinging to her.

As I scanned the sky again, I could barely make out a hazy patch of light flitting around the ship, flashes of blue and red coming off of it. A smaller figure was dodging around the flashes, but I couldn't make out any detail. Sanae had reached us by this time, and she frowned as she looked at the ship. "Is that Shou fighting...?"

Byakuren nodded quietly. "Yes..." She glanced at me with a smile. "She means my second-in-command, Shou Toramaru... Would it surprise you to learn that a tiger youkai was able to become a disciple of Lord Bishamonten?"

My eyes widened. "A youkai... accepted... into such a position?" I shook my head, and slowly smiled. "If it was anybody but you, I think I would be..."

Byakuren laughed. "Good answer..." She frowned at the ship. "What is that, though...?" She moved her fingers quietly, tracing patterns in the air. "Even enhancing my senses with magic, I can only see an orb of light..."

Murasa shook her head. "That's all we're seeing too," she said. "I don't know what it is..."

Sanae's eyes widened. "I-I do!" she said suddenly. "We ran into it a number of times before we reached you, Miss Hijiri... It really does look like just a ball of light..." She frowned. "All it really did was fire a lot of danmaku at us, though... then it flew away..."

Murasa blinked, pointing with her ladle. "Ah! It's going..."

We all watched as the hazy ball of light flew upwards and vanished. Byakuren sighed lightly. "Well... whatever it is, it's gone..." she murmured.

I looked to Murasa now. "So... are you the captain?" I asked softly, indicating the glowing ship.

Murasa nodded, bowing. "Minamitsu Murasa," she said quietly. "I captain the Holy Palanquin."

I bowed in return. "Chitose Izumo," I said. "I'm not a captain, or a monk... just a girl from the outside world..."

Byakuren beamed, putting an arm gently around the sailor girl. "If you ever need proof that youkai can be trusted and reasoned with, and even helped, you need look no further than her..." she said quietly.

Murasa blushed, and fidgeted quietly. "She... has a point," she murmured quietly. "Though I don't like to remember the reason why..."

Byakuren lifted her chin with a single gentle finger. "One can be ashamed of their past, but they should never strive to forget it, lest they shame themselves again," she intoned gently.

Murasa nodded, looking at me now. "Well... Based on your last name, I imagine the answer is 'yes', but, do you know what a funayurei is?" she asked quietly.

I nodded. "The ghost of a drowning victim... when driven by anger and spite, they are known to capsize ships..."

Murasa nodded again. "Just so... In life, I was lost overboard due to my own foolishness. But in time, because people began to fear me, I grew in power and became a youkai feared far and wide for my power to sink ships." She smiled just a little, settling a bit closer to Byakuren. "Which is when they called in the famous youkai-hunting monk, Byakuren Hijiri..."

Byakuren smiled. "At the time, nobody knew yet of what I had realized, or my desire to help youkai... but I had already begun trying to create that equal world."

Murasa nodded quietly. "She appeared before me. At the time, I thought only of how my fame and power would grow if I could overcome this famous monk in battle... and so I..." She hesitated, and slowly closed her eyes. "I set out and attacked her ship, striving to sink it to the depths of the ocean."

Byakuren nodded quietly. "She succeeded even more easily than I'd imagined," she said quietly. "It was well that I brought so few people with me..."

Murasa pouted. "Y-you didn't put up a fight at all, though..." she said softly. "Don't think she's a pushover, mind you, she's leagues more powerful than I... she just didn't put up any defense against me."

I blinked. "But why would you do that...?"

Murasa was the one who answered. "Moments after her ship had sunk, Lady Byakuren appeared before me once more, standing at the prow of a beautiful shining ship..." She paused, a few tears running down her cheeks. "I can still remember how I felt, looking up at it... because somehow, she had known what I was, what I wanted, why I hated so deeply..." She slowly opened her eyes, beaming up at the monk. "The ship that she created before my very eyes was in the perfect image of the ship I had fallen from and drowned so many years ago..."

Byakuren beamed back at her. "Her anger, her jealousy, her desire to sink whatever ships she could find... In the end, all she wanted was that ship back..." she said softly, giving the captain at her side a soft squeeze.

Murasa nodded. "Back then, I really couldn't control the tears," she murmured, wiping her eyes. "In that moment, I felt whole again. And when I took the hand that Lady Byakuren held out to me, and accepted her offer to become that shining ship's captain, I was finally freed from the cursed sea that had claimed my life."

Byakuren smiled softly. "Youkai don't always attack simply out of a desire to hurt humans," she said quietly. "Some are merely confused, or hurt..."

Sanae was staring at Murasa now with wonder. "I never realized you had such a long history with her..." she murmured. "No wonder you were trying so hard to rescue her..."

Murasa bowed, blushing softly. "She saved me once..." she murmured. "It's only fair that we, who she was sealed away for helping and showing kindness to, come to her aid, isn't it?"

I smiled softly. "I think I understand you now, Byakuren," I said softly. "But really, I don't even need to look that far to know that humans and youkai can be friends..."

As the monk looked at me, head tilted, I slowly opened Sakan's book, flipping through until the little youkai poked his head out of the pages, gazing up curiously at her. "Pretty..." he murmured softly, blushing just a bit.

Byakuren broke into a wide smile, ruffling Sakan's hair softly. "Oh, my... a tsukumogami? You're so adorable, little one... what's your name?"

Sakan smiled up at her. "I'm Sakan Irori... aneechan named me." He fidgeted. "D-do you like it?"

Byakuren looked up at me now. "You named him...?"

Sakan leaned up a little further out of the book. "I'm a newborn youkai, Miss Hijiri... I didn't have a name before aneechan found me." He smiled. "She's been taking care of me, all this time... even though she didn't know that I was a youkai until we got to the mountain..."

Byakuren smiled and ruffled his hair again. "How wonderful... Yes, I can tell you two have a strong bond... A human traveling with a yousei and a youkai, is it? This world truly has changed since I was sealed away..." She smiled softly. "In any case, I think it's time we were going..."

Murasa nodded. "The Palanquin is ready to leave whenever you need, Lady Byakuren..." she said, saluting briskly.

Byakuren smiled and nodded, turning and returning the hug Sanae was already giving her. "Be well," she said quietly. "Remember the things we've talked about... and that you are a person, not just a mirror for Kanako's ideals..."

Sanae nodded quietly. "I will... and I'll make sure Suwako-sama helps out with your temple too..."

Byakuren smiled lightly, and then took to the air, following in Murasa's wake as the captain was already heading back. Sanae sighed lightly and then turned to me, beaming. "I'm glad you made it up here..." She giggled and tugged Sakan gently into her arms to hug him. "And you didn't have this little cutie when you and I met..."

I nodded. "I found him in the forest the night after the festival," I said. "Although I didn't find out he was a tsukumogami until he revealed himself to try and drive off Momiji..."

Sanae blinked, pouting. "What'd she do...?"

I blinked right back. "She found me near somewhere I wasn't really supposed to be... She got suspicious, and was demanding I get off the mountain, and since you were off incident-solving, I couldn't get vouched for until Utsuho showed up..."

Sakan pouted and crossed his arms. "The tengu was being really mean to aneechan... she had a sword and everything..." He shook his head. "So I fought her... then Okuu showed up and vouched for us..."

Sanae nodded a little. "Yeah... sometimes the tengu can be a little... overzealous..." She tilted her head. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Sakan shook his head. "She sliced up poor Daiyousei though," he said, glancing towards the fairy still hovering at my shoulder.

Daiyousei winced. "She thought I was a familiar that Chitose had summoned," she said quietly. "Luckily, fairies heal quickly..."

Sanae sighed. "Sorry you guys had such a rough time..." She held out her hand to me as she began to fly upwards. "Chitose, come with me a sec..."

I blinked, then smiled a little. Keeping my hand at my side, I slowly rose until we were level with one another, grinning. "I don't actually need help to get up there anymore..."

Sanae beamed, and then spun in midair, dashing off towards one of the other pillars. "C'mere then!" she shouted excitedly, as I followed carefully after her. It was a bit of an effort, but I was eventually able to reach the pillar, dropping rather hard onto the level top. "So... why are we up here?" I asked.

Sanae smiled, and just pointed outwards, down the mountain's slope. "Just look..." she murmured.

I looked, and gasped. The sight that stretched before me was incredible. The pillar was high enough that the mountain fell rapidly away beneath our feet. Spreading out from its base was Gensokyo in all its beauty.

Straining hard, I could make out many of the places I'd been on my journey. Far to the south lay the golden expanse that I knew marked Yuuka's domain. North of that, near the center, lay the village, barely visible as a cluster of tiny homes and the ploughed fields around it, and I smiled, remembering the sight of the Aki sisters helping out there. The bamboo forest lay closer still, and for a moment I imagined between those thick shoots Kaguya and Mokou, engaged in battle once more, while Eirin and Keine waited to tend to both fighters and Reisen struggled to keep sense of everything. The great Forest of Magic lay off to the left of the village, and I smiled a little, thinking of everyone there I'd met: Marisa and Alice, Remilia and Patchouli and everyone else at the mansion, the crazy, overly-confident Cirno, and of course my companion throughout most of my journey, Daiyousei... and of course the Hakurei Shrine, visible only as a tiny clearing far off on the border of the forest, where I'd first arrived and met my first youkai, Suika.

I found myself smiling fondly as I gazed down on the land below, and realized there were even more places I hadn't explored. A tiny patch of white lay just beyond the sunflowers - likely Medicine's place of birth - and in the distance I could see a winding river, and nearby a patch of deep, deep violet blossoms that somehow chilled me to look at them. Not to mention the "underground" that Utsuho had mentioned, or the strange Makai realm that Byakuren had been sealed away in...

I shook my head slowly. "Gensokyo really was even grander than I had imagined..." I murmured softly, gazing down at the land spreading below me.

Sanae smiled. "Isn't it?" she asked softly. "It's really an amazing place..."

I sighed quietly. "It's beautiful..." I looked back behind me at the shrine. "You three are lucky, living in a shrine way up here where you can see it all..."

The setting sun cast a warm glow over the fields below, slowly deepening to a soft reddish light as the sun began to sink past the distant horizon. Sanae looked at me slowly. "So... I did have a reason beyond this to want you to come up and see me," she said with a suddenly eager smile.

I laughed and nodded. "You want news of the outside world, huh?"

Sanae nodded back. "Not only that, though... I want to hear more about your adventures..." she said. "It's been... how long now? Five days?"

I shook my head. "Six days... six whole days in this land..."

Sanae smiled. "You must have had a lot of crazy encounters..." she murmured. "After all, Miss Hijiri's right... youkai and human are a lot closer to equal in this world... and you'd never seen one before coming here, had you?"

I shook my head, laughing a bit. "No... Suika was my first encounter in that respect," I murmured. "And of course I've been taking care of Sakan... keeping him close, and out of danger, even when I thought he was just a book..."

Sanae smiled, and nodded. "Yeah... so tell me!" she said, giggling softly.

I nodded, smiling back, and began to tell her everything. The sun sank lower as she listened, wide-eyed, to my story. As I listened to myself speak, I began to realize just what a strange journey it had been. Playful oni, frustrated guardians, shy kappa, zealous tengu, friendly goddesses, mischievous fairies, a devoted "little brother", and of course the toying kyoukai... I had met so many people in such a short time here, and I shook my head as I finished, amazed. "Pretty crazy, huh?"

Sanae giggled softly. "Welcome to Gensokyo," she teased. "So... I guess not a lot has changed in my old home in just a few years, huh?"

I shook my head. "You guys caused quite a stir when you came here, though," I murmured. "A shrine suddenly falling into total disrepair, and the well-liked miko vanishing along with it... Things died down after a while, though. I heard a couple of college students were studying it for a long while, but even they gave up from what I hear..." I paused. "I mean, new games have come out, new idols and singers have risen to popularity, but that's just really the norm for humans..."

Sanae giggled softly. "That's true," she said. "I do sorta... wish I'd brought some of my things with me, though." She fidgeted, pressing the tips of her pointer fingers together. "I mean... from what I hear, the kappa are working on a method for making electricity... I wouldn't mind relaxing in the evenings with some of my old anime, after my chores are done of course..."

I smiled a little at my fellow outsider's nostalgia, looking out at the horizon as the last shreds of red and blue started to fade. "You ever think about going back?" I asked softly.

Sanae blinked. "Back to the outside world...? Don't be silly... if I did that, the goddesses would be faithless again and fade away..."

I shook my head. "No, I mean just you..."

Sanae shook her head right back. "And leave them without a miko? No way..." She paused. "And... even if I could leave them with someone... I wouldn't."

I looked at her quietly. "But why?" I asked. "Lady Suwako said that she didn't really have any regrets about leaving the outside world behind, but... I don't think that's the case with you." I paused. "You were ecstatic to meet someone else from the outside world... someone that could bring you news..."

Sanae smiled. "Well... yeah..." She shook her head. "I do miss some things about the outside world, but... I've been here so long... I don't want to abandon my friends, or my goddesses either..."

I nodded. "But... what about your friends and family in the outside world?"

Sanae shook her head slowly. "I know, but... either way I choose, I have to give one up..." She looked out towards the horizon, then slowly laid back on the pillar's top. "Chitose... just try to understand... The goddesses are my family now... the people of Gensokyo are my friends, especially the youkai of this mountain, and Gensokyo is my home..."

She tugged my sleeve gently, and I laid back as well, gazing up into the sky. Night had fallen while we were talking, and now the sky was blacker than Kaguya's hair, sparkling with more stars than I had ever seen, even on that night I had sheltered in the old Hakurei Shrine. Despite the new land, the constellations overhead were familiar, and for a few minutes I lost myself in tracing out the old shapes with my outstretched hand.

Sanae's voice was calm when she finally spoke. "My turn," she said softly. "What about you, Chitose?"

I looked over at her, noting the soft smile on her face. "What about me...?"

Sanae giggled softly, turning to look back at me. "The incident is over... and by the time you get all the way back to the Hakurei shrine, Reimu won't have the excuse that she's tired out after fighting..." She winced lightly. "Not that all three of us aren't really tired... fighting with Byakuren was far more intense than I imagined... but goddess or no goddess, she'll be more than strong enough to send you back by the time you reach her..." She smiled gently at me. "So... are you going to go back? Or are you going to stay here, in Gensokyo?"

I frowned quietly as we lay there, thinking to myself. "Daiyousei asked me the same thing earlier today... but I really don't know..."

Sanae smiled a little. "I think you do... you're just having trouble sorting things out..." She raised herself up on one arm, looking down at me. "I was listening when you told me your story... you've made truly strong friends here, even in the short time since you arrived." She glanced towards the edge of the pillar. "You even managed to make friends with a fairy, and trust me when I say that humans rarely do anything like that..." She giggled. "Even the frightening moments were filled with wonder for you, Chitose... This land is beautiful to you, and it's one where people still pay attention and true faith to the shrines that you so lovingly care for..."

I shook my head. "I-it's not like nobody in the outside world pays faith...."

Sanae shook her head right back. "Chitose, you said yourself that your friends always gave you funny looks when you said you were going up to the old Hakurei Shrine... but here, if you want to give faith to someone, or repair damage to a half-forgotten place, nobody bats an eye. It's natural, or at least understandable..."

I sat up. "Hey... it's not like they're not really my friends or anything... they're good people..."

Sanae blinked, sitting across from me now. "I didn't say anything like that," she said. "And I know it's going to be a hard choice... just like I had..." She paused. "But I also know that you've fallen in love with Gensokyo, just like I did..." She smiled softly. "This beautiful world, even if technology-wise it's way behind our own... a world where magic still lives, and the gods come out to speak and even make merry with us..."

I nodded. "A world where youkai don't try to eat humans on sight, and humans don't try to kill youkai on sight..." I murmured, remembering Byakuren. "A world where it's actually possible to be friends with a youkai..."

Sanae giggled. "Or a yousei," she pointed out, glancing down again. "Or even a goddess... Suwako-sama really seemed to like you, and I'm sure the sisters would claim you as friend if you asked..."

I nodded, looking out over the landscape below, smiling as little points of light twinkled on in the village. A rainbow flash of light lit up the trees around where I knew the lake and mansion lay, and I wondered if Cirno had decided to cause the returning shrine maiden a little extra bit of trouble. "It really is beautiful here..." I murmured. "And even with all I've seen... there's even more to explore, and more people to meet, aren't there?"

Sanae beamed. "Many, many more..." she whispered. Slowly, both of our heads rose to gaze at the stars, even as clouds rolled in from the west and began to cover them. The moon shone brightly through a gap in the clouds, and then faded again into a misty glow. "I really do love it here..."

I nodded, slowly standing and gazing to where a few stars could still be seen on the horizon. "It's amazing," I agreed, letting myself slowly float a few feet off of the ground. "Even the stars look more beautiful... more alive... than I've ever seen..."

Sanae nodded. "You've made a lot of connections here," she said softly, rising up to fly at my side. "So many friends..." She smiled. "You've even taken in one of them to care for, as your little brother..."

I looked down to where Sakan's glow could be faintly seen, far below us. "Yeah..." I shivered. "I can't bring him back with me, can I?"

Sanae shook her head. "Electricity is bad for tsukumogami..." she said quietly. "You know that... and besides, even if you could physically... what would he do? You would be the only person in the world he could ever talk to, or show himself to..."

I nodded, shivering a little. Sanae put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't make the decision just for his sake, though," she said quietly. "There are people who can take care of him... and you have a family on the outside too..."

I sighed, and gazed up into the clouded sky. Rain was beginning to fall, the first real storm I'd seen since coming to Gensokyo. This world really was more alive, more beautiful. And in the end, Sanae was right. I had friends and family on both sides of the Great Border now, and either way I chose, I would have to give up one world's connections. I thought back over my journey once again, all the humans and youkai I'd encountered over my near-week since I had been spirited away... and slowly I nodded, smiling up at the crying sky. "... I'm going to stay," I said softly.

Sanae blinked, and then hugged me tightly. "R-really?" she asked, eyes wide.

I nodded, still gazing up at the clouds. "Yeah... I've decided..." I smiled. "I feel... more at home here... and like I have a place..."

Sanae giggled softly. "You do, you goof," she said softly. "You know that..."

I laughed, and hugged her back, not caring as the rain grew stronger and the wind whipped at our clothes. "Yeah, you're right..." I said softly.

A voice called up from below, and I strained my ears to listen. "Aneechan! I'm getting all wet!"

I blinked, and looked at Sanae. "Sakan... water's bad for books and fire-youkai alike..."

Sanae nodded, hurrying to the ground, still holding tight to me so I wouldn't lose control and fall. "All three of you, hurry inside the shrine," she said quickly.

Sakan blinked, and huddled up against me, my arms holding him close as I looked to Sanae. "B-but... it's a shrine..." I said, staring at her. "It's one thing for the miko to stay there, but..."

Suwako appeared as if out of nowhere and landed on my head, squatting there in that frog-like pose of hers. "But nothin'!" she declared. "If Sanae says it's all right, and the former goddess here says it's all right, then you get yourself in there before the kiddo gets any wetter!" she declared, hopping over to Sanae and hugging her way into a piggyback.

Sanae nodded. "Come inside, and hurry..." she said, wincing as the wind gusted against us. "This feels like a really strong storm..."

Kanako was standing in the doorway, and she beckoned to us. "It is," she said quietly. "I'm goddess here... I give my permission." She eyed Daiyousei with a soft chuckle. "Even you," she added.

Daiyousei blinked, and shook her head. "I'll stay in the rain for a while," she said, smiling. "I live on a lake... I love the wind and rain..."

Kanako shrugged, and nodded, stepping aside. "As you wish.. the rest of you, hurry..."

I huddled Sakan to my chest and hastened inside, laying him gently on the ground and shivering. Sakan poked at one of his pages and pouted. "I'm all wet..." he murmured.

I sighed. "First thing I'm doing when I see Patchouli again is getting her to teach me a water-proofing spell..." I murmured. "Sakan, do you have anything in your pages that could dry you off...?"

Sakan blinked. "Er... I could start a fire, I guess... though... I don't wanna burn the shrine down by accident..."

Sanae tilted her head. "Patchouli? Why not Marisa? Or Alice, even?"

I blinked. "Marisa... knows spells like that?" I asked. "I thought she just, well..."

Sanae giggled. "Blew things up with a laser the size of a truck? That's just her specialty... she knows all sorts of magic. Alice too, even though she focuses a lot on dolls..."

Sakan shrank back into his book, and a small orb of flame appeared hovering over the pages. I kept a careful eye on it as I slowly turned the pages, letting each one dry slowly in the warmth. Outside, the rain grew stronger, and a few strokes in the distance lit up Daiyousei. The fairy was spinning and flying about in the storm, beaming up at the sky, and I laughed softly. "Well, at least one of my companions is enjoying herself..."

Sanae giggled softly, and then gasped. I immediately saw the reason why. Hovering atop one of the pillars was a familiar blur of light, and it quickly flew down to hover in front of Daiyousei. Tilting her head lightly, the fairy suddenly poked it and fluttered away, giggling madly.

The reaction of the light was rather predictable. As Daiyousei fluttered towards one of the pillars, a burst of red-and-blue danmaku shots rushed out and caught her in the back, making her burst into smoke. I winced, and Sanae caught up her wand. "I'd better go after it..." she said, stepping forward.

Kanako nodded, stepping forward. "I'll lend you my power again, then..."

Sanae nodded at first, but then paused at the door and fidgeted. "Actually... could I maybe... call on Suwako-sama this time?" she asked, hesitantly. "I mean, you already had a turn, and..."

Kanako crossed her arms. "You're thinking of what that monk said..."

Sanae nodded. "Well... yes... It's only using danmaku, after all... I don't think it's seriously trying to hurt anyone..."

Kanako frowned. "It's still attacking people. You said yourself it appeared and attacked you without cause..." She stepped forward. "Go and take it down. Danmaku or not, it decided to break the peace."

Suwako hopped up onto Sanae's back, hugging her lightly. "Aww, c'mon, Kanako," she said, practically whining. "It's my turn anyway... and maybe Byakuren's right about you being a little too stern..." She grinned. "Sanae, go on and investigate this weird shiny light, okay?"

Kanako blinked, but stepped back. Suwako grinned, and started to glow softly... an outline resembling a massive, squat frog forming around her, before the energy flowed to Sanae and took up the same shape. "There ya go," the goddess said, grinning. "Now, just make sure you investigate it real thoroughly, okay?"

Sanae seemed to have caught some of Suwako's manic energy... and maybe she quite literally had. She beamed at the frog-lover. "Yes, Suwako-sama," she said, gripping her wand and taking off into the night.

Daiyousei reappeared a moment later, slumping to the floor of the shrine and sighing. "Well... that was predictable..." she murmured.

I smirked lightly, ruffling the fairy's soaked hair. "Don't worry. I'm not going to greet your pranks with bullets when I learn how to make them too..."

Daiyousei blinked. "Learn... doesn't that mean..."

I smiled. "That I'll be around for a while? Yeah... a good, long while..."

Daiyousei chuckled. "Long enough for plenty of pranks, then?"

I nodded, flipping another page of Sakan's book. "And to take care of this little fella," I murmured, giggling.

A muffled voice sounded from between the pages. "Aneechan, you're really gonna stay?"

I nodded, pressing lightly down to keep him from pushing his way out. "You bet... now settle down, you two." I smiled, holding my hand near the fire for a moment, marveling at the way I could feel the magic flames being constantly spent and renewed, held within the little sphere. It really was like sitting on the hearth, or around a campfire. "Let's get you two settled and dried off, okay?" I smiled, and laid down next to the other two, letting Sakan's flame warm me. Sanae still hadn't returned yet by the time the last page was dry and all three of us dropped off to sleep.


	10. Epilogue - Eighth Day ~ The First of Many Cups of Tea

Even flying, descending the mountain took another day. We left early, Sanae still asleep and Nue, the girl that had turned out to be hiding inside of that ball of light, floating around and poking at things curiously. She had introduced herself briefly, a cute young girl in a black dress with blue trim around the buttons. Strangely, the wings she bore were different on each side; three red wings looking almost like great sickles to her right, and three blue wings like devil's tails to her left. She confessed to having interfered both with Murasa's crew and with Sanae, Reimu and Marisa, mostly because it seemed like fun to her at the time... though she hadn't realized what Murasa intended to do at first. It was apparently due to her that the blocks had looked like UFOs to Sanae and I, like blocks to Reimu, and like fairies to Keine.

"This is my 'Seed of Non-identification'," she said, showing me the snake-like object twined around her right wrist. "It's basically a magical item that can disguise something's true form... what people then see is all due to their experiences." She glanced at the sleeping Sanae, giggling. "So Sanae, fresh from the outside world, saw something flying through the sky that shouldn't be, and immediately thought of aliens..."

I tilted my head. "So, you're not one, then...?"

Nue giggled. "Nope... even though Sanae's gotten the idea stuck in her head that I am..." She explained to me that she was a nue, a lesser-known kind of youkai similar to what Westerners call a chimera... though she had in fact been using her seeds each time she faced humans. "Those images of me, all those crazy combinations of animals... that's just what emerged in their mind from their nebulous fears," she explained. "This is what I really look like..."

When Sakan and Daiyousei had awoken, we headed out, although Sanae was still sleeping... and likely would be for a while, after the night's exertions. Nue, meanwhile, had gone to look for Byakuren, to try and apologize for interfering with her release... and also a bit intrigued by the woman after what I'd told her about the monk.

We made a brief stop at the Aki Shrine as well to visit with the goddesses, but the cleanup would have to wait until I could get some supplies, and soon we pressed on, ending up sleeping in the fields between mountain and village.

The next morning, Daiyousei was frowning as she fluttered overhead. "Chitose... I should head home for a while," she said quietly. "Cirno probably misses me, and I've been away from it for a long while now..."

I nodded, and hugged the child-sized fairy tightly. "I'll stop in and visit later on, okay?" I asked.

Daiyousei nodded, and shyly kissed my forehead. "I'm glad you're staying, Chitose," she said, beaming. "I'll see you around!"

I stood there for a minute, watching her fly off, before Sakan nudged my leg. "C'mon, aneechan..."

I smiled and scooped him into my arms, closing the book gently. "Settle down, silly... now relax for a bit."

Sakan's voice echoed faintly from the closed pages. "Okay, aneechan... I'm still kinda sleepy anyway..."

I held Sakan securely under my arm as I moved through the village. My supplies had run a little low, and I spent a while moving about the market, replenishing my bag's contents and confirming with the few vendors that recognized me that, yes, I was going to stay, likely in the village. That done, I set out looking for information on a place to settle a bit more permanently.

As I passed down one of the streets, my eyes fell on Daisuke, the man sitting in front of his door and puffing quietly on a pipe. He caught sight of me at almost the same time and groaned. "Reimu still hasn't sent you back yet? Geez..."

I smiled, bowing lightly. "At this point, I've pretty much made up my mind to stay anyway..."

Daisuke twitched. "You've gotta be kidding me..." He shook his head. "Listen, kiddo. When my family got drawn here by that damned kyoukai, they didn't have a choice about getting back. You do. Don't waste it."

I tilted my head. "You're from the outside world?"

Daisuke shook his head. "Nah. But somewhere along the line, one of my family wound up spirited away, just like you. He settled down here, married someone he met in the village, and the Kirisame family's been part of Gensokyo since."

I smiled lightly. "And eventually that line led to the birth of one of the strongest magic-users in Gensokyo..."

Daisuke twitched more noticeably this time. "Kid, I told you I don't like talking about that girl..."

I smiled lightly. "Youkai aren't nearly as bad as you say they are," I said quietly, hefting Sakan's book and starting to flip through the pages. "I've spent time with quite a few of them over the last few days..."

Daisuke groaned. "Great. Now you sound like that monk girl who showed up yesterday..." He pointed to the far side of the village. "She's building a temple now, up by Rinnosuke's place... crazy girl keeps talking about 'equality for humans and youkai'... hah... that's just nuts." He frowned. "What's with the book?"

I smiled, even as Sakan poked his head out and leaned on the side of the book sleepily. "Well, I like them, anyway," I said quietly. "I've even started taking care of this newborn..."

Daisuke stared at us both for a long moment, and then rose from his place, knocking his pipe out against the side of the inn and storming inside without saying another word. Sakan pouted up at me. "He's kinda mean, isn't he?"

I sighed. "Some people just don't trust youkai..."

Akyu's voice spoke behind me, and I turned around to see her smiling lightly at me. "It's not all his fault," she said quietly. "Gensokyo used to be a far more dangerous place..." She was holding a book under her arm. "I heard you'd come back to the village," she said, smiling.

I tilted my head, Sakan floating down to peek at her curiously with those sleepy eyes of his. "It's good to see you again... but... was it really so dangerous?"

Akyu nodded quietly. "Yes... the Gensokyo you've been exploring over the past several days only recently started becoming that way," she said quietly. She indicated the book under her arm. "Each time I reincarnate, I culminate my researches with a volume called the 'Gensokyo Chronicle'. Until this most recent volume, its pages have been filled with quite a few frightful youkai... dangerous beings with little respect for human lives..." She sighed quietly. "Daisuke remembers well some of those dark times... and quite a few of the Kirisame family were devoured by wicked youkai... I don't blame him for being mistrustful even in these changed times..."

Sakan shivered, staring at her with eyes wide. "... I promise I'm not gonna try and hurt you..." he said hesitantly.

Akyu giggled softly. "Well, aren't you a little sweetheart?" she murmured softly, rubbing his hair gently. "I'm not so worried. Honestly, I had to take a few liberties and a much more worrisome tone in this latest volume just to make it sound like the old ones... the Gensokyo Chronicle was mainly intended as a guide for humans, to help them survive against hostile youkai. This time around I mostly had to indicate how much of a threat they would pose if they acted against humans... rather than indicate to what degree they were a dangerous enemy..." She smiled lightly. "Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if my little Perfect Memento is necessary anymore..."

I tilted my head. "What will you do if that's the case, then...?"

Akyu smiled. "Reincarnation is an arduous process," she said quietly. "And it takes so long that nearly all the humans I know are long gone by the time it finishes. I've been considering just living out the remainder of my ninth life peacefully, and let myself pass on at the end of it..."

I shivered quietly, but nodded, hugging the girl on impulse. Akyu blinked, and then smiled lightly. "I've lived many times a normal human life anyway, Chitose. And I haven't decided that there won't be a Hiedo no Ajyu..."

I nodded, releasing her. "Well... at the very least, you'll get to see part of my history unfold," I said softly.

Akyu smiled, and nodded. "I'll ask around for a house you can move into," she said. "You may have to build one, though..." She giggled. "Not that that would stop you, mm?"

I laughed, and we parted ways. Further down the street lay a small tea shop with tables arranged outside in the sun. Despite the niceness of the day and the soft breeze blowing, the inside was fairly clearly crowded, while only one person sat outside. Then I got closer and saw who it was, and understood, laughing softly as I stood by her table. "Hello again... did you get the hot spring installed, finally?"

Suika looked up and laughed, her gourd at her side for once as she sipped at a cup of tea. "Hey, there you are... well, I tried to make a start of it, but Reimu came back and kicked my ass." She laughed again, and took a swig from her gourd before returning to the tea. "Incident, Cirno proclaiming herself the strongest, _and_ me in the same night... boy was she mad..."

I rolled my eyes. "Guess that means no hot springs for a while, huh?" I seated myself carefully at the table, setting Sakan open beside me. "Well... I could always try to bargain with Reimu... my help with the shrine in exchange for you and me getting to work on the springs..."

Suika grinned. "Sounds like a plan... though I don't think Reimu's gonna be keen on bargains for... a month at least." She sipped at her tea again, and waved to the man at the counter inside, pointing to me. "Who's your friend?"

I smiled, ruffling Sakan's hair gently. "This is Sakan. He's a newborn youkai... I'm taking care of him..." I giggled softly. "I'm his big sister now."

Suika laughed. "Well, you've certainly changed since the surprised little girl who'd never seen an oni before..." She leaned back in her chair as someone came out of the building and set a cup before me. "Don't worry about paying, s'on me. I'm just waiting for someone to drop by anyway, so feel free to join..."

I nodded, sipping quietly. "... Even the tea tastes better here, somehow," I mused. "Is it maybe just cleaner air...?" I looked across at her. "Come to think of it... didn't Reimu say something about you causing an incident once? What did you do?"

Suika grinned. "Oh, that? Well..." She tugged out a few hairs, and they changed suddenly into tiny copies of herself. "My power's 'manipulation of density'... so I can gather and spread things..." She grinned as the tiny onis vanished again. "Basically, I spread myself throughout Gensokyo, and gave everyone... let's call it 'party fever'..." She giggled. "Reimu eventually got fed up with it all and went looking for the one responsible... and she found me..."

I blinked. "Parties...?"

Suika nodded. "All the other oni live underground," she said. "Like Yuugi... she only comes up for stuff like the spring festival, and gathering supplies, and the others don't really come aboveground at all. I was bored... and I thought I could get them to come out of that old place and party with me." She pouted. "It didn't work at all though. Nobody showed up, and I ended up getting beaten up by a really angry shrine maiden..." She shrugged lightly, and grinned. "So... I take it from the fact that you're not fleeing for the shrine at top speed that you've had a decent time?"

I nodded, grinning back. "Not half-bad," I said lightly. "If you don't count nearly getting disintegrated by a crazy flower-loving parasol lady..."

Suika laughed. "Hah... not the youkai I'd choose to run into my first week here..."

A soft laugh broke in on our conversation, one I knew well and had been expecting to hear since that night at the shrine. "Well, it's lucky I was keeping an eye on you then, dear... wasn't it?"

Another of those strange, eye-filled slits appeared in the air next to our table, and Yukari stepped out of it, twirling a parasol lightly on one shoulder. I smirked lightly. "Would have been luckier if you hadn't held Ran back," I said, lightly ruffling Sakan's hair. "He ended up revealing himself to me anyway later, though... You knew he was there the whole time, didn't you?"

Yukari giggled lightly behind her hand. "What on earth gives you that impression?" she asked quietly, settling herself at the table as the server hurried over with a third cup.

Suika smirked. "Because it's _you_ , Yukarin," she said, taking a heavy swig from her gourd again. She seemed to be alternating between sake and tea at this point.

Yukari chuckled softly, eyeing me now. "So... it's been a week, hasn't it?" she asked softly. "Since our little meeting at the inn... where you asked me to return you to the outside world... And how have those seven days treated you?"

I pretended to consider this. "Pretty well, all told," I said. "Besides nearly getting incinerated by Yuuka."

Yukari laughed softly behind her gloved hand. "Yes, but really, that was your own fault, you know," she said lightly. "Daiyousei did warn you to be careful around those flowers..."

I smiled a bit, ruffling Sakan's hair. "I made friends with youkai, beings I thought I'd never see in my lifetime... and with goddesses who're even now eagerly awaiting my return so we can give their shrine a proper cleaning instead of the basic one the three of us did..." I giggled. "I even made friends with a fairy, and took on a newborn youkai as a younger brother..."

Yukari grinned. "Which must be rather new for an only child like you," she said softly.

I blinked. "... Just how long have you been watching me?" I hazarded.

Yukari's grin widened. "What an odd question. What makes you think I was at all?"

I rolled my eyes. "You knew about me restoring the outside world's Hakurei Shrine... you knew I still cared about faith and the gods... you even knew somehow that I was an only child..." I paused, looking around for a moment. "Yukari... you planned all this, didn't you?"

Yukari rested her chin on one hand, smiling softly at me. "Planned? What do you mean, dear?"

I shook my head. "It wasn't coincidence you chose this particular visit to the shrine to pull me through..." I said quietly. "You knew I'd go to the spring festival, and meet dozens of youkai there... you knew that there was an incident on the horizon, and that Reimu wouldn't even consider sending me back... No matter what, I'd be forced to remain here for several days... surrounded by youkai, humans, yousei, even gods..."

Yukari's smile spread. "Well, you certainly don't seem angry about it..." she said lightly.

I nodded. "You were right... I hadn't even seen a dram's worth of your world..." I paused. "Well... I suppose now it's 'our' world..." I shook my head slowly. "And you planned things just right... so that when you spirited me away, that I'd end up having to stay here long enough to realize that..."

Yukari got a strangely familiar smirk on her face for a moment, which cracked Suika up. "Now who's been hanging around with Sanae too long?" the oni teased.

Yukari just sipped her tea, still smiling. "Even now you haven't, Chitose," she said quietly. "Gensokyo is a whole world... it's far too vast and wild to see in a single week..." She nodded. "And... well, perhaps things did go just as I planned them..."

I nodded slowly. "I had a feeling you would..."

Suika snickered. "Another case of 'Damnit, Yukari!', eh?"

I shook my head, grinning. "No... not really. Not this time."

Yukari leaned back in her chair, sipping her tea quietly. "So, Chitose, what lies in store for you next?"

I shrugged lightly, smiling. "A house... probably going to have to build one myself, but I'm no stranger to putting things together. And then... well, I have a pair of goddesses whose shrine needs some serious attention and faith... and a very cute kappa who's gotten very interested in my new abilities..."

Suika blinked. "Abilities, eh? What, can you make stuff build itself?"

I rolled my eyes. "If only... but I can make moving parts, well, move around... I haven't really explored it well yet..."

Suika laughed. "Bet that'll make you pretty popular on the mountain..."

I paused, looking up at Yukari. "I have a favor to ask, actually..."

Yukari smirked softly. "After everything else I've done for you, dearie?"

I smirked right back. "Like dragging me out of my world against my will and keeping me from returning until you were 'satisfied'?" I countered.

Yukari's grin widened. "I thought you were happy with the result..." she said softly.

Sakan giggled. "Doesn't make it any less mean though! C'mon, please? For aneechan?"

Yukari laughed and shook her head. "All right, dearie... what is it?"

I hesitated for a moment... then dug in my pocket and pulled out my car's keys. I'd had them with me when I had passed through the Hakurei Border, and hadn't ever bothered to throw them away. "I want... for you to put these on the front seat of my car," I said softly.

Yukari tilted her head. "Oh...?"

I nodded. "No sense in letting it go to waste," I said. "It's brand-new anyway..." I smiled, holding out the keys to her. "Please?"

Yukari smiled, and opened a tiny gap beneath my hand. I dropped the keys in, and with a soft motion of the air they were gone. "There," she said lightly. "Free to all finders..."

I nodded, smiling lightly. "That settles it..." I said quietly. "I'm a resident of Gensokyo from now on..."

Suika clapped me on the back and held out her gourd... and this time, I took a swig. "Heh... welcome to Gensokyo. Properly this time! 'Cause I forgot before," she crowed.

I smiled, stifling a hiccup. "Well... I wasn't a proper resident before anyway..." I grinned. "Give me a call next time Reimu runs off to deal with an incident... maybe we can get that spring installed before she gets back..."

Yukari chuckled. "Already plotting ways to harass the shrine maiden? You really are a resident," she teased, leaning on her hands again.

Suika grinned. "Ey, she'll warm up to the idea once we actually get it installed and she sees how nice having one is..." she murmured. "Plus, maybe it'll actually start bringing in donations from people other than this goof." She ruffled my hair heavily, and I had to fight to keep from being knocked from my chair.

Yukari smirked. "Well... you certainly seem to be enjoying things..." she said quietly to me.

I smiled... putting an arm around Sakan gently, and focusing. My smile widened as I saw a tiny blue light crystallize in my palm, two tiny gears running slowly around the perimeter. "Yeah..." I said softly, smiling up at her. "I guess I am."

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to migrate over some of my writing from fanfiction.net (mostly just the stuff I still actually like, as opposed to the badly-in-need-of-rewriting .hack//GUardian). Think this was the first thing I put up over there, unless the Naruto stuff came first. Other Touhou stuff will follow later, and I do have some ideas about a newer piece involving the Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom stuff. Maybe.
> 
> ... also this thing is longer than I remember, so chapters might show up in chunks depending on when I have the energy to review all the [words words m*f*ing words].


End file.
